Obama Transition Team Member To Speak at Alma
Voters don’t choose politicians; politicians choose voters by
manipulating election laws, argues Spencer Overton, an author and
election law scholar who will speak at Alma College.
Overton’s presentation at Alma will take place at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 2
in the Remick Heritage Center. Admission is free and open to the
public. No ticket is required.
Originally scheduled to speak Jan 19 as the keynote speaker for Martin
Luther King Jr. Week, Overton’s talk at Alma College was postponed due
to his appointment to the Barack Obama Presidential Transition Team for
the inauguration and rescheduled for Feb. 2.
Spencer Overton
“We're
very excited to have Spencer Overton come to campus on the heels of the
Inauguration,” says Jamie Smith, assistant professor of history. “Not
only did Overton contribute to Obama's Transition Team, his message
mirrors the president's.”
In his most recent book, Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression,
Overton discusses the way politicians manipulate election laws to their
advantage while lessening the value of the average American vote.
“Overton's message in Stealing Democracy is surprisingly one of
hope,” says Smith. “He proposes a road map for us to improve our
electoral system and therefore strengthen our democracy. We all know
that we have the right to vote; we hear that one vote can make a
difference. What we don't all understand is how strategies like
re-drawing district lines, limiting the number of booths in densely
populated areas, and requiring specific identity cards allow certain
politicians to maintain a choke hold on power.
“Like our new president, Overton encourages action in communities,”
says Smith. “We do have the power to fight against
gerrymandering. The question that Overton cannot answer for us is
will we invest in ourselves, in each other, in our communities and do
it. A government of the people and by the people requires significant
effort for the people.”
Overton’s achievements have earned him multiple awards, including the
Emerging Scholars Award in 2006 from Diverse Issues in Higher Education
magazine. In 2003 he was recognized in Black Enterprise Magazine as one
of nine who “may conceivably end up leading a major Black empowerment
organization.”
Born and raised in Detroit, Overton has ties to Michigan as a judicial
clerk for the honorable Damon J. Keith in the Sixth District Court of
Appeals in Detroit. He also practiced law in the greater Detroit area.
He served as a commissioner on the Jimmy Carter-James Baker Commission
on Federal Election Reform as well as the Commission on Presidential
Nomination Timing and Scheduling. He currently serves on the boards of
Common Cause, Demos and the American Constitution Society. In addition,
he is a Senior Fellow of the Jamestown Project, a nonpartisan
organization at Yale dedicated to articulating new ideas for enriching
American democracy.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Overton currently is a member of the
George Washington University Law School faculty. He previously taught
at the University of California, Davis, School of Law.
Posted: Thu, January 22nd, 2009 at 8:41AM
