Voting Rights in America: Where We Stand and What Comes Next?

Who votes, whose voices are heard, and how much do election laws shape the answers? This talk places the United States in global perspective and considers where Alabama stands among the 50 states. We’ll examine how elections measure up to the democratic ideals of broad participation and political equality, exploring what current research reveals about how voting laws affect turnout—and whether they affect some groups more than others.

Along the way, we’ll separate evidence from myths and exaggerated claims, considering where research supports, complicates, or challenges familiar arguments about voting rights.

Richard Fording is Professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama, where he studies voting rights, voter turnout and election law. He is co-founder and co-director of Return My Vote, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that helps Alabamians with felony convictions restore their right to vote.