ACLU - Preparing for the Election: Voting Rights in 2008

The ACLU of Eastern Missouri is continuing our 2008 National Directors’ Series on Wednesday September 10 with Laughlin McDonald, ACLU Director of the Voting Rights Project. His keynote address will be: Preparing for the Election: Voting Rights in 2008

The upcoming election in November has many Americans still wondering if they will be welcomed at the polls and if their vote will in fact count. The ACLU, in partnership with local and national organizations, has been distributing voter empowerment cards, conducting election day monitoring, and remedying voting rights violations as they occur. What challenges still remain for us at the state and local level in 2008? Are practices in place to dilute minority voting strength? Will this upcoming election be better than the last in terms of voting irregularities?

Laughlin McDonald has been director of the Voting Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union since 1972. He was born and grew up in Winnsboro, South Carolina, and graduated from Columbia College and the University of Virginia Law School. He has been in private practice and taught at the University of North Carolina Law School. He has represented minorities in numerous discrimination cases and specialized in the area of voting rights. He has argued cases before the U. S. Supreme Court, testified frequently before Congress, and written for scholarly and popular publications on civil liberties issues. His most recent book is A Voting Rights Odyssey: Black Enfranchisement in Georgia.

The event takes place on Wednesday September 10 from 6:30-8pm at the offices of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri 454 Whittier Street (just south of Olive in the Gaslight Square).

This event is FREE and open to the public. RSVPs encouraged, but not required. 314-652-3114 ext 23 or email scott@aclu-em.org