Source: The National Press Club

 *Update Oct 16, 2014 @ 12:00 PM: Watch video recording of debate on C-SPAN.

Sherrilyn Ifill and Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation will discuss the likely impact of recent court rulings, new state election laws and voter ID laws on the upcoming mid-term elections at a Newsmakers news conference on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 10 a.m. in the NPC’s Murrow Room.

Arguing that recent actions could suppress voter turnout by making it more difficult for the poor, minority groups, the elderly and the physically challenged to go to the polls will be Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She has served as an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, is a professor of Civil Procedure and Constitutional Law at the University of Maryland School of Law, and is a renowned voting rights litigator and a civil rights strategist. Ifill also has written `On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century.’

Making the case that states providing photo IDs for free are actually removing barriers to voting will be Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative and senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He has worked on tort reform and civil justice issues as counsel and senior corporate officer in the insurance industry, served as counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and was a member of the Federal Election Commission for two years.

Von Spakovsky is co-author, with John Fund, of `Who’s Counting?: How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk.’ He has testified before various state and congressional committees in favor of the constitutional right of states to establish procedures for the conduct of their elections.

Like all NPC Newsmaker events, this news conference is open to credentialed media and NCP club members, free of charge. No advance registration is required.

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