With the confirmation of Jeff Sessions, life-long opponent of Civil Rights, to the position of Attorney General, Trump is moving to do something that Republicans have long coveted — a major push back on both Civil Rights and Voting Rights protections at the national level. After the mid-term Tea Party wave election of 2010, many states were able to do some version of this at the state level — 21 states passed new voting restrictions after 2010. Republicans like to use buzz words like “voter fraud,” “integrity of elections,” and “voter safety” in an attempt to justify new voting restrictions.

But despite all of the talk of voter fraud, multiple studies have found it to be virtually none existent. Voter fraud is not a real issue. Fear mongering about voter fraud is a propaganda tactic pushed to get voters to support draconian voter suppression methods that disproportionately and intentionally target minorities. Last year, a federal appeals court stroke down several voting restrictions in North Carolina and noted that the restrictions “targeted African Americans with almost surgical precision.” Republicans aren’t stupid. They know that the demographic trends of the future don’t favor them, especially with the explosive growth of nonwhite populations who are highly opposed to the Republican Party. Republicans had two options — they could change their platform to reflect the growing diversity of the country and move to push inclusion. Or, they could move even further to the right in an attempt to exclude certain populations from participating in the process. Republicans have obviously chosen the latter option — instead of moving towards the politics of inclusion, they have doubled down on the politics of exclusion and moved to restrict the Civil and Voting Rights of minority voters.

2016 was the first election since the Voting Rights Act was gutted by the Supreme Court. Previously, states with a “history of discriminating against minority voters” had to get federal authorization before changing their voting rules. The Supreme Court invalidated that language, allowing for southern states to move to pass restrictions on voting without federal oversight. The states who previously needed federal oversight acted quickly — almost half of the counties that used to check-in with the federal government cut their number of polling places as soon as possible, a move that disproportionally harmed people of color.

With Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, you can expect him to support states taking these kinds of harsh, restrictive measures against communities of color to prevent them from voting. Sessions has long been a vocal opponent of the Voting Rights Act, and he has repeatedly used the “voting fraud” propaganda tactic. Sessions has a history of prosecuting Black activists in Alabama, especially those attempting to help Black people vote — and now the man who once called the NAACP “un-American” and couldn’t be confirmed for a federal judgeship under Reagan for fears of racism has the power to prosecute voters across the entire country.

So what should Democrats do to defend voting rights? Make no mistake, the Democratic Party itself is under direct attack. While the Republican Party is generally over 90 percent white, the Democratic Party is at least 40 percent nonwhite, and that number is growing every year. In the next decade or so, the Democratic Party will be at least half nonwhite, if not majority nonwhite. Voting restrictions like the ones championed by Jeff Sessions are an attempt to rig the system against minorities. They are an attempt to keep Republicans in power by disenfranchising the increasingly diverse electorate. They are an attempt to subvert the political interests of nonwhites — and those interests are simply the politics of inclusion and acceptance. So what should Democrats do? There is a lot of talk about playing defense, and of course Democrats should do that. They should sue when possible, and they should fight back against new voting rights restrictions that Republicans are ecstatic to attempt to implement at the national and the state levels.

But more than anything, I believe that Democrats need to go on offense. It is time to stop letting Republicans frame the argument around “voter fraud” and spreading propaganda without concerted push back. Democrats need to stop even entertaining the notion of voter fraud as legitimate argument, since voter fraud does not exist. It is like a scientist trying to have a legitimate argument with someone who believes that the world is flat. Instead of trying using the Republican framing of voter fraud, Democrats should come up with a new term to associate with voting rights — such as “voter empowerment (imagine a politician saying they want to fight for voter empowerment. That sounds appealing),” or “voter freedom,” or something of that nature. Democrats should emphasize that voting is something that should be a universal right, and that it is something that is patriotic and symbolic of democracy. By turning associating a phrase like voter empowerment with patriotism, Democrats can then call Republicans unpatriotic for their attempts to stop people from voting. Democrats can say that those who want to stop their countrymen and women from voting don’t actually love their country. It is all about how you frame the argument, and right now I think Democrats are playing too much defense both on messaging and policy.

Democrats have a unique opportunity as the opposition party in the 2018 mid-terms. While it might be challenging to take back the Senate, Democrats can see the House within reach. Also, there are several statehouses with elections in 2017 (Virginia and New Jersey) and 2018 (Wisconsin, Illinois, Nevada, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico) that Democrats can win back. With executive power in these states, Democrats will be able to do more than simply fight back against voter restrictions — they will be able to go on offense and attempt to implement an agenda of voter empowerment. Here are a few items on the voter empowerment agenda that I believe Democrats should push for in states they find success in during 2018:

Automatic Voter Registration:

Currently, California, Oregon, Vermont, West Virginia, and Connecticut have automatic voter registration laws. The Brennan Center notes that automatic voter registration dramatically increases the rate of voter registration in two ways:

“Eligible citizens who interact with government agencies are registered to vote unless they decline, and agencies transfer voter registration information electronically to election officials.”

Adding automatic voter registration — so those that interact with the DMV are automatically registered to vote — will be a boon for Democrats in more diverse states across the country, especially in the south.

Same Day Voter Registration:

In many states, voters are not allowed to register and vote on the same day. Democrats should make an effort to change that in the states that they have success in during the mid-terms.

Restoration of Voting Rights To Felons :

Right now, the majority of states in the union don’t allow felons to vote. This has been a popular “law and order” type measure that politicians previously used to look “tough on crime.” Democrats should emphasize that those who have paid their debt to society shouldn’t be shut out from the political process. This is a much tougher sell than some of the other issues on my voter empowerment agenda, but again it comes down to framing the argument. Democrats should argue that when those who have been to prison have an opportunity to reintegrate into society, they are productive tax-payers and that helps everyone. Maybe a line that could be used is something like “We shouldn’t punish them twice.” Felons have already served their time, let them become productive members of society by voting for elected officials.

Expanding Early Voting:

Early voting has come under assault by Republicans because Black voters disproportionally use the practice, especially after going to church on the weekend. Democrats should move to expand early voting hours in states they win.

Expanding Absentee Voting:

In many states, voters have to give a “legitimate” reason for using an absentee ballot. Democrats should push for voters to be able to send in absentee ballots regardless of if they can vote early or in person on Election Day.

Setting Legal Requirements For The Number of Polling Places:

This election cycle, a number of states run by Republicans purposefully cut down on polling places in order to create long lines and chaotic scenes in certain areas where people of color live. One way that Democrats can combat this is to make states set a legal requirement for the number of polling places that is proportional to the county population. So unless your county’s population drops dramatically, there cannot be an elimination of polling places.

Growing the number of ways to vote and expanding the actual pool of registered voters will have a positive impact on Democrats during elections, especially with the growing diversity within the Democratic Party. While implementing this entire platform might not be feasible in every state, even implementing portions or making compromises will advance the voter empowerment agenda, and with its success in several states, it can be put on a national platform for the 2020 election. It is time for Democrats to go on the offensive when it comes to voting rights. Not just protecting them — but expanding them.