You are invited to attend a program about election laws and the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 at a panel discussion, Ensuring Fair Elections 50 Years after the Voting Rights Act, at UConn School of Law on Nov. 19, 2015.

 

The Voting Rights Act prohibits racial discrimination in voting, but in 2013 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a section that required certain jurisdictions to get federal approval before any change to election rules. The panel discussion, sponsored by the law school and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, will examine the legal landscape governing elections going forward from that decision.

 

Professor Douglas Spencer, who has a joint appointment to UConn School of Law and the university's Department of Public Policy, will address modern threats to voting rights in the United States. Spencer focuses his research on the empirical study of public law, campaign finance, voting rights and election administration. He teaches Constitutional Law, Election Law and Introduction to Public Policy.

 

Justin Levitt, deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, will discuss the statutory framework for a meaningful vote. Levitt is a national expert in civil rights, constitutional law and the law of democracy who has written extensively about redistricting, election regulation and electoral fairness. He is on leave from Loyola Law School.

 

Sarah P. Karwan '00, an assistant United States attorney and deputy chief of the Financial Fraud and Public Corruption Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, will speak about the role of criminal law in ensuring fair and transparent elections. She serves as the district's election officer and has served as a prosecutor on the Connecticut Public Corruption Task Force.

 

William J. Nardini, chief of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, will serve as moderator. Deirdre M. Daly, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and UConn Law Dean Timothy Fisher will make opening remarks.

 

The program will begin at 5 p.m. in William F. Starr Hall on the UConn Law campus, 45 Elizabeth Street in Hartford. It will end with a question-and-answer period, followed by a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

 

An RSVP is required for the event, which is free and open to the public. Please register by Nov. 16 at law.uconn.edu/vra-50