Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression

Professor Spencer Overton of George Washington University Law School, who specializes in voting rights and campaign finance law, will discuss his new book, Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression, on October 11, 2006 at noon in the Moot Courtroom. In his book, published by W.W. Norton, he examines how incumbent politicians engage in election practices and create bureaucratic hurdles that determine who votes and how votes are counted, and he suggests strategies toward restoring self-government.

Overton, who taught at UC Davis School of Law from 2000 to 2002, was a commissioner on the Jimmy Carter-James Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform. A frequent media commentator, he serves on the boards of Common Cause, Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action, and the Center for Responsive Politics. He is also a senior fellow of the Jamestown Project at Yale, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to articulating new ideas for enriching American democracy.