Who Talks, Who Votes?: Campaign Finance and Voter Access as Battlegrounds of Democracy

Concerned about soft money, corporate spending, early voting cutbacks, voter ID laws and partisan districting? 

So are we. Join us on Monday 10/22 at noon in RB339 as we tackle some of the issues confronting voting rights, access to the ballot box, and the information to which voters are exposed, the foundations of an informed Democratic Republic. Ask Why, Sigh, and maybe Cry, with our three distinguished panelists: 

 - Bebe Novich manages the Voting Access Chicago Program at Equip for Equality, which advances the human and civil rights of people with disabilities in Illinois. Equip for Equality is instrumental to a Consent Decree between the Chicago Board of Elections and the Federal Government to ensure Chicago Elections are conducted in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 - Jay Young is the Executive Director of Common Cause Illinois, which works to counteract the influence of Money in Illinois politics and to ensure fair, free, accessible elections here in our State. CCIL is a leader in the grassroots democratic reform movement.

 - Prof. Michael Kang is one of the nation's preeminent election law scholars and is now Northwestern's very own. His paper Gerrymandering and the Norm Against Government Partisanship (116 MICHIGAN LAW REVIEW 351 (2017)) was selected as the Best Election Law Paper of 2017 by the Association of American Law Schools' Section on Election Law.

As if that's not enough, we will feed you (from Flacos Tacos). Again, Monday 10/22 at noon in RB 339 (AKA the nice room near Profs. Redish and Calabresi’s office).