Former head of Federal Election Commission to speak at Toledo Law

August 19, 2014

Hans A. von Spakovsky, former Federal Election Commissioner, and manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative and Senior Legal Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, will discuss “The Reality of Voter Fraud and How to Ensure Election Integrity,” at noon on Monday, September 29, in the McQuade Law Auditorium at The University of Toledo College of Law.

The free, public lecture is a presentation in the College’s Stranahan National Issues Forum and is sponsored by the College of Law and its chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.

Von Spakovsky says that voter fraud has plagued American elections since the founding, and that it continues to do so today.  He proposes measures that states should take to deter, prevent, and detect fraud without inhibiting the ability of anyone who is eligible to register and vote.  The experience of states that have implemented these election reforms shows, according to van Spakovsky, that the claims made by opponents of election reform are untrue, and that maintaining the confidence of the American electorate in the election process is of vital importance.

 “Hans von Spakovsky embodies a rare combination of experience and learning in the field of election fraud,” said Lee J. Strang, professor of law at the College of Law. “His time on the FEC, his numerous books and articles, and his ‘in-the-trenches’ service on local elections boards, give von Spakovsky an exceptional vantage point. Von Spakovsky’s lecture is a perfect fit for Ohio, which faces a major election this Fall.”

Von Spakovsky is co-author of “Who’s Counting?: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk” (Encounter Books, 2012).  His analysis and commentary have appeared in many publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Politico, and Human Events.  Von Spakovsky appears regularly on national and regional TV and radio news outlets.

Previously, von Spakovsky worked at the Justice Department providing expertise enforcing the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.  He is a former vice chairman of the Fairfax County (Va.) Electoral Board and a former member of the Virginia Advisory Board to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.  

A 1984 graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law, von Spakovsky received a bachelor’s degree in 1981 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Stranahan National Issues Forum

The Stranahan National Issues Forum is a joint program of The University of Toledo College of Law and its chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. The Forum is made possible by an endowment from the Stranahan Foundation. The Forum’s purpose is to address issues of national importance through the lens of the American legal system, and Hans A. von Spakovsky joins a long list of high-profile speakers who have delivered the Stranahan Lecture at Toledo Law.

Parking

Reserved parking for lecture attendees is available in Lot 25, which is adjacent to Rocket Hall. Visitors may access Lot 25 from Secor Road using College Drive.