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Spring 2008 Symposium

The Spring 2008 Symposium took place on March 6. Video of the symposium is available here. Real Player (which can be downloaded here) is required to view the file. More information about the symposium appears below.

The Harvard Journal on Legislation Presents:

Voices on Voting: Election Law in 2008

Thursday, March 6; 2:00-5:30 p.m.
Harvard Law School, Austin North
FREE and Open to the Public
Reception to follow
Opening remarks by Dean Elena Kagan

Can campaign finance regulations and free speech coexist? Should states be allowed to pass voter ID laws? Is voter fraud a problem? Should Americans be concerned about whether their votes will be counted? With the 2008 elections soon approaching, a bipartisan group of panelists will discuss these and other issues in what is sure to be an exciting and timely event.

Panel One: Voting Rights, Voter Fraud, and Election Administration

Moderator: Professor James Greiner, Harvard Law School

Panelists include the following:

ALLISON HAYWARD, Professor, George Mason University
Former Chief of Staff and Counsel in office of FEC Commissioner Bradley Smith

HEATHER HEIDELBAUGH, Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir, P.C.
Vice President for Election Education, Republican National Lawyers Association

LAUGHLIN MCDONALD, Director, ACLU Voting Rights Project
Longtime voting rights advocate and litigator, author of several books on voting rights in the South

NATE PERSILY, Professor, Columbia Law School
As court-appointed expert, has drawn redistricting plans in Georgia, Maryland, and New York

TOVA WANG, Democracy Fellow, The Century Foundation
Co-authored report on voter fraud and voter intimidation for the Election Assistance Commission

Panel Two: Campaign Finance

Moderator: Professor Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School

Panelists include the following:

JAN BARAN, Chair, Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, Wiley Rein LLP
Former general counsel to the Republican National Committee and George H.W. Bush Presidential Campaign

ROBERT BAUER, Chair, Political Law Group, Perkins Coie LLP
Counsel to Obama for America and the Democratic Senatorial and Congressional Campaign Committees

JAMES BOPP, Bopp, Coleson, & Bostrom
Litigated Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC, a landmark campaign finance case, before the Supreme Court last year

MARTY MEEHAN, Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Former U.S. Representative (D-MA), co-author of Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (BCRA)

FRED WERTHEIMER, President, Democracy 21
Described by the Wall Street Journal as perhaps the capital's longest-toiling advocate of reducing the role of money in politics

Questions? Contact Jesse Grauman (jgrauman@law.harvard.edu) and David McCrary (dmccrary@law.harvard.edu).

Special thanks to our sponsors:

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy Student Conference Fund
Elite Sponsor: LexisNexis (www.lexisnexis.com)
Advertising Sponsor: Perkins Coie LLP
Associate Sponsor: Wiley Rein LLP
Sponsors: The Coop, BarBri

Last Modified: March 16, 2008