College of Law

Voter ID, gerrymandering, and Citizens United decision among Oct. 19 symposium topics

October 10, 2012

As absentee and early voting ballots are cast and Nov. 6 approaches, election law experts will gather at The University of Toledo College of Law on Oct. 19 to consider how the country’s elections are conducted, financed, and monitored.
 
The free, public symposium, titled “Votes and Voices in 2012 - Issues Surrounding the November Election and Beyond,” is sponsored by The University of Toledo Law Review and will be held from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 19, in the newly renovated McQuade Law Auditorium.  

Symposium panels are slated to address topics such as political gerrymandering – the subject of an Ohio ballot measure – and the controversial voter identification laws being rolled out across the country. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and campaign finance reform will also be discussed. Citizens United and the later ruling in SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission paved the way for “super‐PACs” and the record $3.98 billion spent by political parties and outside interest groups during the 2010 elections – a sum that is sure to be eclipsed by 2012 election spending. 

“The issues addressed in this symposium could not be more important,” said Daniel J. Steinbock, dean of the UT College of Law. “They go to the heart of what it means to live in a democracy.”

Panelists include Michael Boos, vice president and general counsel for Citizens United, and Cynthia Bauerly, commissioner of the Federal Election Commission. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted will deliver the keynote address.