Many Americans believe that voting is either irrelevant as a tactic for pursuing genuine democratic social change, or that casting and counting ballots is the sum total of democracy. Although current U.S. elections are indeed a farce, elections have the potential to play a necessary role in ensuring that people can meaningfully participate in making the decisions that affect their lives.

The Democratizing Elections Program strives to fundamentally transform US elections by nurturing a powerful new voting rights movement that will implement the fundamental and systemic electoral reforms defined in the "Voter Bill of Rights".

Please contact us if you have questions about the Democratizing Elections Program.

Events

• Protect Wisconsin's Vote Education Summit (July 24, 2008 - July 24, 2008)
  This event features a panel discussion and short films organized to inform the media about important voter protection issues, educate community groups on what steps they can take to prevent voter suppression, dispel the myths of voter fraud, as well as collaborate to create an action plan to protect voting throughout the state. 
• Democracy Day (June 5, 2008)
  Liberty Tree is playing a leading role in organizing Democracy Day. Scheduled the day before the National Conference on Media Reform, Democracy Day is a major conference designed to build support among voting rights advocates, electoral reformers and movement organizations for a broader vision of democracy
• Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Day of Action (April 1, 2008)

  Join hundreds of other Floridians in Tallahassee on April 1 for a rally and lobbying visits.

  Demand that the Florida Legislature and the Board of Executive Clemency make civil rights restoration automatic and remove employment barriers faced by people with past felony convictions.

  People with past felony convictions are especially encouraged to participate.

• Procession for the Future (March 2, 2008 - March 4, 2008)
  David Cobb to be a featured speaker at the Backbone campaign's Procession for the Future event.
• Midwest NLG Conference (February 29, 2008 - March 1, 2008)
  Liberty Tree convenes two panels at the regional Midwest meeting of the National Lawyers Guild.
• Claim Democracy 2007 Conference (November 9, 2007 - November 11, 2007)
• The New Generation Voting Rights Movement (March 5, 2007)
• National Election Reform Conference
• A Call to Protect and Democratize U.S. Elections
• March and Rally to Support Reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act
• RadFest 2005: Midwest Social Forum
• Judiciary Committee Hearings on Ohio Voting Irregularities
• Progressive Dialogue III
• Corporate Roundtable
• An Evening With Zinn
  America's greatest historian, Howard Zinn, speaks in Madison's historic Orpheum Theatre at 7pm, Thursday, October 5th. There's more: Join Zinn at 5pm, before his talk in a fundraising event for Liberty Tree, the Progressive, and the Havens Center in the Orpheum's Lobby Restaurant!

Initiatives

• No More Stolen Elections!
  The national campaign to defend voting rights on and beyond the federal general Election Day, 2008.

Publications/Talks

• Manski on Public Radio (June 20, 2008)
  Ben Manski is a regular guest in WPR's "Week in Review"
• Liberty Tree Panel at Claim Democracy Conferece (November 10, 2007)
  Panel Discussion with Liberty Tree's Patrick Barrett, David Cobb and Brandon Lacy Campos on Democratizing Elections
• The Citizen's Election Assessment Hearing
  "The challenge is to create a movement that expands and deepens the notion of elections and democracy itself."
• David Cobb: 'The New Voting Rights Movement' and 'Fighting The Corporate Takeover'
• We are on the offensive: Make the most of it!
  Ben Manski responds to Independent Politics News' question, "How can progressives get off of the defensive in 2006?"
• Voter Bill of Rights
  The full text of the Voter Bill of Rights.
• ACS Paper: Preserving and Expanding the Right to Vote: Ranked-choice Voting
  In this American Constitution Society white paper, Liberty Tree Fellows Patrick Barrett and David Cobb join Caleb Kleppner of Election Solutions in making the case for ranked-choice voting.
• The 2006 Mid-term Elections: Change or Continuity?