What’s at Stake: Examining Voting Rights in the 21st Century

As we head toward the 2012 presidential election, the ability of citizens to participate in the political process could have enormous consequences. This panel considered challenges to the right to vote posed by newly enacted obstacles, including new voter ID and residency requirements, constitutional attacks on the Voting Rights Act, the continued problem of felon disenfranchisement, and efforts by state legislatures in the reapportionment process to minimize the voting strength of growing minority communities. What impact will these developments have on voter participation during the next election cycle? What is at stake for American law and policy in the upcoming election? What proactive steps can be taken to eliminate barriers and expand voter access to the ballot box? Panelists discussed these and other questions that lay at the foundation of our democracy.