On March 18, Myrna Perez of New York University's Brennan Center for Justice traveled to William & Mary and spoke to the ACS student chapter in order to raise awareness about an array of voting rights issues facing the country in this election year. Ms. Perez, a voting rights specialist for the Center, brought a familiarity with the subject that could only be acquired by her work in the trenches, sharing illustrative anecdotes gleaned from litigation across the country. Ms. Perez's talk had many highlights:

1. Felon Disenfranchisement: Perez explained the scope and variety of disenfranchisement across the country and discussed Virginia's especially draconian disenfranchisement laws. By offering a nationwide survery, however, Perez illustrated that there are many ways for states to implement some form of disenfranchisement without requiring a complete prohibition of future electoral participation. Chapter students seemed especially interested in this topic, questioning Perez on the possibility of federal overrides at least for the purposes of federal elections.

2. Voting ID Laws: Although she highlighted the Indiana case recently argued before the Supreme Court, Perez discussed ID laws as they were implemented across the country in general. Most interesting was Perez's illustrations of how registered voters may be turned from the polls when ID laws are implemented. Also discussed was the practical burden of obtaining relevant ID when the ID requirements are changed. As an example, Perez spoke of her husband who, having lost his passport, would be unable to obtain the requisite ID for months. If voting were only weeks away, this would spell disenfranchisement.

3. Voter Registration Organizations: Perez discussed government attempts, via punitive regulatory laws, to crack down on organizations dedicated to increasing voter registration. Specifically, Perez detailed Florida's recently-enacted state laws imposing huge fines on lost registration cards or those that were improperly filled out. As a result, many voter organizations had packed up shop, afraid that clerical errors would result in disabling fines.

Overall, the event raised awareness among our chapter and was a great opportunity for the William & Mary ACS to focus on issues that may prove decisive if the elections in 2008 are anything like we've seen in the past decade.