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Barbara Jordan National Forum - Panel 2 - Does My Vote Count? The Effects of Polarization, Technology and Redistricting


Panel Discussion

Date: Thursday, February 21, 2008

Listen to Audio File

Jordan believed in the responsibility of citizens to participate in government as voters and of elected officials to effect change in government. Securing the right to vote was an integral part of the civil rights movement. The latest extension of the Voting Rights Act (signed into law by President Bush in 2006) raised concerns over a variety of issues, such as pre-clearance and redistricting. What is the impact of the VRA in general? What is its impact on the state of disenfranchisement in America? Four decades after the civil rights movement, are minority citizens exercising voting rights? Does voter ID and anti-voter fraud legislation threaten voting rights? What does the future hold for voting in America?