An Action Agenda
for Electoral Reform

Washington DC, January 19

Date/Time:

January 19, 2001, 10:00am-5:30 pm

Place:

Capitol Hill, Washington, DC Hart Senate Office Building, Room 902 (take North Elevators to 9th Floor) 2nd and C St, NE, Washington, DC (5 blocks from Union Station Metro)

Free and open to the public. No pre-registration required.

Sponsored by:

Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus including Barbara Lee, Bernie Sanders, Earl Hilliard, the Institute for Policy Studies, the Center for Voting and Democracy, the Nation Institute, and the member groups of the Progressive Challenge Network

Schedule

10am-11:30pm The Legacy of Dr. King: A Progressive Vision

Moderator: John Cavanagh, Director of the Institute for Policy Studies

  • Opening remarks Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
  • Ron Dellums*: The Legacy of Dr. King
  • Marcus Raskin, Institute for Policy Studies
  • Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton
  • Rev. Walter Fauntroy, National Black Leadership Roundtable Rep. Barbara Lee*
  • Rep. Bernie Sanders
  • Bob Borosage, Campaign for America's Future

(* indicates invited speaker)

11:30-1:00 Plenary on Electoral Reform and Clean Money Elections

  • Moderator: Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation Magazine
  • Rep Jesse Jackson Jr.*
  • Rep. Cynthia McKinney
  • Rob Richie, Center for Voting and Democracy
  • Elaine Jones, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund*
  • Lani Guinier, Harvard Law School
  • Nick Nyhart, Executive Director, Public Campaign
  • Stephanie Wilson, Fannie Lou Hamer Project
  • Ron Daniels, Center for Constitutional Rights

1:00-2:00 Lunch

2:00-3:30 Session 1 of Workshops on Electoral Reform

  • Clean Money, Clean Elections, Alliance for Democracy and Public Campaign
  • 2000 Electoral Rights Violations and Strengthening the Voting Rights Act, Anita Hodgkiss, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
  • Organizing strategies for Instant Runoff Voting and Proportional Representation, Center for Voting and Democracy
  • Independent Electoral and Debates Commissions, Jamin Raskin, American University Law School and Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange

3:45-5:15 Session 2 of Workshops on Electoral and Campaign Finance Reform

  • The Voters' Bill of Rights: Building a Broad-based Pro-Democracy Movement, Ted Glick of theIndependent Progressive Politics Network, and Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange
  • "Taxation Without Representation": Voting Rights for Washington, DC, Martin Thomas, Stand Up for Democracy Coalition
  • Building Pro-democracy Commissions: The DeFazio/Leach bill and local strategies
  • Fusion and Instant Runoff Voting: a strategy for complementary action, ACORN

For more information:

Call the Progressive Challenge Project at IPS (202-234-9382, x238) or email [email protected]