Will America Hold 'Fair' Elections?

Event Details

Close elections happen ? often. As the National Commission on Election Reform (chaired by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald R. Form, convened by the Miller Center of Public Affairs, and directed by Philip Zelikow) concluded in 2001, a successful democratic process requires maintenance of accurate lists of citizens who are qualified to vote, encourages every eligible voter to participate effectively, uses equipment that reliably clarifies and registers the voter?s choices, handles close elections in a foreseeable and fair way, and reflects limited but responsible federal participation. Will we get it right on November 2, 2004? In a one-half day conference, Miller Center Director Philip Zelikow will review the work of the 2001 Commission; John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute will discuss the planning to deal with the consequences of possible terrorist attacks on polling places; Doug Lewis, executive director of The Election Center, will discuss voting machine technologies and other technical and administrative issues; and Laughlin McDonald (a 1965 University of Virginia law school alumnus) who directs the Southern Regional Office and Voting Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Foundation, Inc., will discuss planning to combat intimidation of voters and suppression of the vote. A summary of the 2001 Report of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, as well as a recent article by John Fortier, will be available on the Miller Center website (http://millercenter.org).