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Electoral College - PRO/CON
The Electoral College. It’s been with us – and debated - since the beginning of our country. However, with the winner of the Electoral College losing the popular vote in two recent elections, the Electoral College is once again under scrutiny. Is it anachronistic and undemocratic? Or is it a bulwark of our republic? Perhaps, it’s a little bit of both or maybe none of the above. Please join the Harvard law School Association of Los Angeles for an informative PRO/CON discussion on the Electoral College that will include two very different perspectives. Our panelists will be --
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Lawrence Lessig (HLS Professor)
Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Author of They Don’t Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy (November 2019) and Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It (2011) among other books. In addition to writing about democracy and elections, Professor Lessig is an intellectual property expert. He is a founding board member of Creative Commons and serves on the Scientific Board of AXA Research Fund. The New Yorker once referred to him as “the most important thinker on intellectual property in the Internet era”. Professor Lessig is the founder of Equal Citizens, a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to fix democracy by establishing truly equal citizenship. Professor Lessig will present the CON position. |
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Bradley Smith (HLS '90)
Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. He has held prior visiting appointments at Princeton University and West Virginia University. From June 2000 until August 2005, Professor Smith served as Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, including as Vice Chairman in 2003 and Chairman in 2004. Professor Smith is the author or co-author of three books on election law and voting rights, and his articles have appeared both in academic publications including the Harvard Business Law Journal and the Yale Law Journal and in popular publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and New York Times. Professor Smith is also the founder and Chairman of the Institute for Free Speech, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting and defending American citizen’s political speech rights. Professor Smith will present the PRO position. |
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Justin Levitt (HLS '02)
Professor of Law at Loyola Law School. Professor Levitt is an expert in Constitutional and Election Law and has substantial experience in legal aspects of the US political process. During 2021-22 he served as the Biden White House's first Senior Policy Advisor for Democracy and Voting Rights. He has served as a voting consultant to Facebook during the 2020 Election, in the Department of Justice as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division from 2015-17 and as National Voter Protection Counsel to the Obama Campaign for Change/Democratic National Committee in 2008. Professor Levitt will moderate the discussion. |
The views expressed by each panelist are solely the views of such panelist and do not reflect the views of Harvard Law School, the Harvard Law School Association of Los Angeles or any board member of the Harvard Law School Association of Los Angeles.
Questions? Email Steve Papkin (steven.papkin@fisherbroyles.com) for general inquiries.
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The Harvard Law School Association of Los Angeles