Symposium to Examine Challenges in Voting Access

Registration is now open for the 2024 NSU Law Voting Rights symposium on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law on NSU’s Davie Campus. We invite you to join us for this community event. The symposium theme is “From Barriers to Ballots.” The one-day symposium will examine the numerous voting-access challenges and explore reform efforts.

With the 2024 election upon us, Florida will once again be the center of much national attention. Given the state’s pivotal role in election results – and its long history of voter suppression efforts – the symposium will feature thought-leaders, attorneys, and activists committed to extending the franchise. The symposium will especially examine strategies that can be implemented to extend voting rights for disenfranchised communities.

“We continue to see new requirements that make it more difficult for Florida voters to participate in our democracy,” said NSU Law Dean José Roberto (Beto) Juárez, Jr. “I believe it is incumbent for the law school to assume a leadership role in educating the community about the challenges facing voters, and in exploring proposals for reform.”

The symposium will feature national leaders who will share their expertise with our community. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, will serve as our keynote speaker.  Other confirmed speakers include ACLU President Deborah Archer, MALDEF Vice President Nina Perales, Nobel Peace Prize-nominee Desmond Meade of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, national voting rights experts from law schools around the country and experts from the NSU College of Law and community.

In addition to Dean Chemerinsky’s keynote, the program will also feature five panels:

• The Electoral College
• Vulnerable Populations
• Florida Suppression Efforts
• Election Integrity
• Reform Efforts

In conjunction with the symposium, NSU Law and the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition are proud to host a pro bono project to offer invaluable assistance to people with convictions who have lost their voting rights due to prior convictions (often referred to as returning citizens). The pro bono project will allow law students and pro bono attorneys to work together on filing modification motions on behalf of returning citizens to restore their right to vote. This “pop-up” clinic will be held on Monday, January 15, 2024 (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday) and Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. The Voting Rights Symposium and the affiliated Pro Bono Project are free events. CLE credits will be available for attorneys.

We welcome the community to both the symposium and the Pro Bono Project.

We invite you to register now to reserve your seat for this critically important community event.  

Posted 10/26/23