Publications
Democracy
Smart on Crime
Transition Document: A coalition of more than 20 organizations, including the Brennan Center for Justice, and individuals created this publication of a catalogue of key criminal justice issues and policy recommendations for the next administration and congress.
Authored by: Criminal Justice Transition Coalition
– 11/06/08
Universal Voter Registration
This document is a summary of the policy proposal for universal voter registration.
Authored by: Wendy R. Weiser, Michael Waldman and Renée Paradis
– 10/31/08
Is America Ready to Vote?
This report asks, in the face of election system problems, what procedures has each state put in place to ensure the integrity of every citizen’s vote? Put another way, in the event of voting machine problems on Election Day, how prepared is each state to ensure that every voter can vote, and that all of those votes will be counted?
– 10/16/08
De Facto Disenfranchisement
This report by the ACLU and the Brennan Center for Justice reveals widespread misunderstanding among state election officials of laws governing the right to vote of citizens with felony convictions. They receive little or no training on these laws, and there is little or no coordination between election offices and the criminal justice system. These factors, coupled with complex laws and complicated registration procedures, result in the mass dissemination of inaccurate and misleading information, which in turn leads to the de facto disenfranchisement of untold hundreds of thousands of eligible would-be voters.
Authored by: Erika Wood and Rachel Bloom
– 10/01/08
Voter Purges
This report is one of the first systematic examinations of voter purging, a practice—often controversial—of removing voters from registration lists in order to update state registration roll. After a detailed study of the purge practices of twelve states, Voter Purges reveals that election officials across the country are routinely striking millions of voters from the rolls through a process that is shrouded in secrecy, prone to error, and vulnerable to manipulation.
Authored by: Myrna Pérez
– 09/30/08
Better Ballots
Eight years after the 2000 election, and billions of dollars spent on new voting technology, the problems caused by poor ballot design have not been fully and effectively addressed on a national level. Year in and year out, we see the same mistakes in ballot design, with the same results: disenfranchisement.
Authored by: Lawrence Norden, David Kimball, Whitney Quesenbery, and Margaret Chen
– 07/20/08
A Citizen’s Guide to Redistricting
Explains and presents the redistricting process for state and federal government, and for many local governments, in digestible parts. Consider it an owners’ manual, for those who should own the process: we, the people.
Authored by: Justin Levitt with Bethany Foster
– 07/01/08
Writing Reform: A Guide to Drafting State & Local Campaign Finance Laws (2008 Revised Edition)
A guide to writing state and local campaign finance laws.
Authored by: Deborah Goldberg
– 06/27/08
A Return to Common Sense
Imagine an America in which a vast number of people routinely vote; where voting is easy, accessible to all, and fair; in which campaigns know they cannot win by dividing slivers of the electorate, but by energizing large numbers behind their plans and ideas.
Authored by: Michael Waldman
– 04/01/08
Fair Courts: Setting Recusal Standards
The Brennan Center’s recusal report addresses increasing threats to the impartiality of America’s state courts, and provides ten proposals to achieving meaningful reform of state recusal systems.
Authored by: James Sample, David Pozen and Michael Young
– 04/01/08