Can We Protect the Ballot? Saving Voting Rights and Democracy in America

Join The New Republic for a livestream of TNR Live: Can We Protect the Ballot? A look at where we are on voting rights and where we need to go to save our democracy.

Date and time: Wed, May 25, 2022 @ 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM PDT

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tnr-live-can-we-protect-the-ballot-tickets-332126849347

PANEL:
--Tiffany Muller, President, End Citizens United
--Allison Riggs, Co-Executive Director, Southern Coalition for Social Justice
--Nsé Ufot, CEO, the New Georgia Project
--Michael Waldman, President, Brennan Center for Justice
--Moderated by TNR staff writer, Matt Ford


SPEAKER BIOS:

TIFFANY MULLER
Tiffany Muller is the President of End Citizens United (ECU) and Let America Vote (LAV). Tiffany has helped grow the group from a start-up into a nationwide organization with more than 4 million members and 900,000 grassroots donors. Under her leadership, the group has made protecting the voice and vote of every American a national priority, which led to the introduction of the Freedom to Vote Act — the most significant voting rights and anti-corruption legislation in generations.

Prior to joining End Citizens United, Tiffany was Deputy Political Director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee where she worked with the top-tier Senate races across the country. She also served as a chief of staff to two Members of Congress.

Tiffany began her career in government and politics when she became the first openly gay public official in Kansas in 2004 as a member of the Topeka City Council, where she led successful efforts to expand anti-discrimination protections. In 2012, she was the Vice-President of Political Operations at Victory Fund in a record breaking year for LGBT candidates that included electing the first openly LGBT US Senator and doubling representation in Congress.


ALLISON RIGGS
Allison Riggs leads the voting rights program at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, an organization she joined in 2009. In March of 2020, she also took over as Interim Executive Director of the organization, and in March of 2021, became the permanent co-Executive Director.

Her voting rights work over the last decade at SCSJ has been focused on fighting for fair redistricting plans, fighting against voter suppression, and advocating for electoral reforms that would expand access to voting.

She has litigated redistricting cases on behalf of State NAACP Conferences in Texas, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina. In 2018, she argued the Texas redistricting case in the United States Supreme Court, and in 2019, she argued the North Carolina partisan gerrymandering case in the Supreme Court. Allison works closely with grassroots organizations and communities of color as they seek to advance their political and civil rights. She received her undergraduate, Master’s Degree and J.D. from the University of Florida.


NSE UFOT
Nsé Ufot is the Chief Executive Officer of the New Georgia Project (NGP) and its affiliate, New Georgia Project Action Fund (NGP AF). Nse leads both organizations with a data-informed approach and a commitment to developing tools that leverage technology to make it easier for every voter to engage in every election. Nse and her team are also developing Georgia’s home-grown talent by training and organizing local activists across the state. She has dedicated her life and career to working on civil, human and workers’ rights issues and leads two organizations whose complementary aim is to strengthen Georgia’s democracy. Under Nse’s leadership, NGP has registered nearly 600K Georgians to vote.


MICHAEL WALDMAN
Michael Waldman is president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. A nonpartisan law and policy institute that focuses on improving systems of democracy and justice, the Brennan Center is a leading national voice on voting rights, money in politics, criminal justice reform, and constitutional law. Waldman, a constitutional lawyer and writer who is an expert on the presidency and American democracy, has led the Center since 2005.

Waldman was director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1999, serving as assistant to the president. He was responsible for writing or editing nearly two thousand speeches, including four State of the Union and two inaugural addresses. He was special assistant to the president for policy coordination from 1993 to 1995.

He is the author of The Fight to Vote (Simon & Schuster, 2016), a history of the struggle to win voting rights for all citizens. The Washington Post wrote, “Waldman’s important and engaging account demonstrates that over the long term, the power of the democratic ideal prevails — as long as the people so demand.” The Wall Street Journal called it “an engaging, concise history of American voting practices,” and the Miami Herald described it as “an important history in an election year.” The Fight to Vote was a Washington Post notable nonfiction book for 2016 and a History Book Club main selection.

Waldman is also the author of The Second Amendment: A Biography (Simon & Schuster, 2014). Publishers Weekly called it “the best narrative of its subject.” In the New York Times, Joe Nocera called it “rigorous, scholarly, but accessible.” The Los Angeles Times wrote, “[Waldman’s] calm tone and habit of taking the long view offers a refreshing tonic in this most loaded of debates.” In a Cardozo Law Review symposium devoted to the book, a historian wrote, “The Second Amendment is, without doubt, among the best efforts at melding constitutional history and constitutional law on any topic — at least since the modern revival of originalism two generations ago.”

His previous books are My Fellow Americans: The Most Important Speeches of America’s Presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama (2003, 2010), A Return to Common Sense (2007), POTUS Speaks (2000), and Who Robbed America? A Citizen’s Guide to the S&L Scandal (1990).

His frequent appearances on television and radio to discuss policy, the presidency, and the law include Good Morning America, the Colbert Report, Morning Joe, PBS NewsHour, CBS Evening News, Meet the Press Daily, All In with Chris Hayes, the O’Reilly Factor, Nightline, 60 Minutes, Tavis Smiley, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and the Rachel Maddow Show, as well as NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Fresh Air. He writes for the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, the Daily Beast, Slate, Democracy, Reuters, Bloomberg, and other national publications.

He is a graduate of Columbia College and NYU School of Law.

MATT FORD
Matt Ford is a staff writer at The New Republic. His work focuses on law, the courts, and democracy. Originally from Nevada, Matt previously wrote for The Atlantic.