Battle for the Ballot Box

The USA was founded in pursuit of a more perfect union. In the Elections Clause (Art I, Section 4) and several amendments (XIV, XV, XVII, XIX, XXIII, XXIV, and XXVI), the Constitution enshrines, explicitly or implicitly, the right to vote - a political and legal journey that continues to be challenging and complex.
Though the American republic is certainly more democratic than it once was, issues such as voter ID laws, voter registration purges, and partisan gerrymandering have raised concerns about electoral fraud and discrimination against minorities. Recent Supreme Court decisions - Shelby County v. Holder (2013) and Rucho v. Common Cause (2019) - have failed to address key questions. How do states balance the integrity of elections and the individual right to vote? What role does the federal government have in preserving democracy throughout the USA?
The CWRU Student Constitution Discussion Roundtable is pleased to welcome Alora Thomas-Lundborg, J.D., and Hans von Spakowsky, J.D., to discuss critical questions on the right to vote.
Alora Thomas-Lundborg, J.D., is a Senior Staff Attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, Voting Rights Project. A graduate of Columbia Univerrsity Law School, Ms. Thomas-Lundborg practiced law in New York City, joining the ACLU in 2017.
In spring 2019, she successfully argued Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute v. Householder. The U.S. Court for the Southern District of Ohio struck down the Ohio Congressional map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.
Hans von Spakovsky, J.D., is the manager of the Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative and a Senior Legal Fellow at the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Under the George W. Bush administration, Mr. von Spakovsky was Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and served for two years on the Federal Election Commission.
He has co-authored Who’s Counting?: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk and Obama’s Enforcer: Eric Holder’s Justice Department.