Center for Democracy & Election Management
(202) 885-1527
Fax: (202) 885-1366
cdem@american.edu
CDEM is working with Common Cause and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law to develop model legislation that addresses the chronic problems identified through the Carter-Baker commission. Learn More
Susan A. Davis
Are America's elections as fair and professionally-conducted as Mexico's? The question is not a joke, and the answer also isn't funny: "no." On June 13, 2007, American University's Center for Democracy and Election Management hosted "Change the Way America Runs Its Elections," a conference which examined our current problems and offered new proposals. Two distinguished members of Congress, Representatives Susan Davis (D-CA) and Rush Holt (D-NJ), delivered the keynote speeches
Conference Agenda (.pdf) | Press Release (.pdf) | Speaker Bios (.pdf) | Experts Guide (.pdf)
Audio: Keynote 1 (.mp3) | Keynote 2 (.mp3) | Kojo Nnamdi Show
A delegation of Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows attending American University's Washington College of Law (WCL) observed the U.S. midterm elections on November 7, 2006.
Full report and recommendations (.pdf) | Press release
One of the most prominent issues to dominate the current discussion of election reform in the US is voter ID requirements. CDEM is studying the impact of the introduction of ID requirements on access to voting. As part of this project, CDEM staff observed the 2006 midterm elections in Indiana, one of the few states that require a photo ID.
Executive Summary (.pdf) | Final report of CDEM's study (.pdf)
On September 20, 2006, AU professors and political candidates Allan Lichtman and Jamie Raskin reflected on their experiences campaigning for office; Professor James Thurber spoke about the national mid-term elections — the issues, the candidates, the significance; and Professor Robert Pastor spoke about the problems in conducting the elections and the role that students can play as poll-workers to make the elections free and fair.
On March 29, 2006, the HAVA conference at AU brought together scholars and practitioners of election administration to assess the reform and implementation efforts being carried out across the states to comply with the requirements of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) as well as to discuss some of the issues that still challenge the conduct of election in the US.
Agenda (.pdf) | Conference papers (.zip)
A delegation of Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows attending American University's Washington College of Law (WCL) observed the U.S. Presidential elections on November 7, 2004.
