Voting Rights

3 units

This course will study legal concepts of voting rights and election law that impact the ability of citizens to access and participate in the democratic process. It will include the opportunity for students to directly engage in observing, monitoring, or advancing the right to vote during the 2008 elections. Election law changes rapidly and is the subject of legal and political dispute in a number of areas that will affect the franchise during the 2008 elections. This course will examine federal constitutional and statutory law governing the right of suffrage and assess current controversies in these areas. While there is no specific right to vote explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution, over time, it has been amended or interpreted to protect the right of franchise from being abridged based on race, gender, property ownership, age and other qualifications. Legislative enactments have also established rights with respect to voting. Each extension of voting rights has been a product of and resulted in social and political change. This course will examine the interplay of law and politics in the right to vote. The course will begin with the study of constitutional foundations, statutory protections and case law. We will then apply these principles to current issues in voting rights, including voter registration, voter identification, provisional ballots, voting machines, access for people with disabilities, felony disenfranchisement, voter suppression and voter fraud. Students will apply this knowledge to voting rights during the 2008 elections through hands-on involvement in voter education, monitoring or advocacy. The course will conclude with an assessment of the current issues in light of observations made by students during the 2008 elections, with an eye toward the advancement of election law and full enfranchisement in the future. The course involves the study of fundamental Supreme Court cases, interactive discussion of contemporary debates, and review of current litigation and legislative proposals. The course will be supplemented by occasional guest visits by election officials, lawyers, legislators, voting rights advocates or others.