Lawrence Norden
Lawrence Norden is Deputy Director of the Brennan Center's Democracy Program. He has authored several nationally recognized reports and articles related to voting rights and voting technology, including Better Design, Better Elections (July 2012) and Voting Law Changes in 2012 (October 2011). His work has been featured in media outlets across the country, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and National Public Radio. He has testified before Congress and several state legislatures on numerous occasions.
In April 2009, Mr. Norden completed his duties as Chair of the Ohio Secretary of State's bipartisan Election Summit and Conference, authoring a report to the State of Ohio for the purpose of improving that state’s election administration practices and laws. The report was endorsed by many of the State’s leading election experts, as well as the Ohio Association of Election Officials, the bipartisan organization representing Ohio’s 88 county boards of election. The Columbus Dispatch called Mr. Norden “a respected authority on voting law,” and praised him for “following an independent path” in developing the report and recommendations.
Mr. Norden was the Keynote Speaker at the Sixth Annual Votobit International Conference on Electronic Voting (Buenos Aires, 2008), and the 2009 Electronic Voting Technology Workshop/Workshop on Trustworthy Elections (Montreal, 2009). In June 2009, he received the Usability Professional Association's Usability In Civic Life Award for his “pioneering work to improve elections.” Mr. Norden is the lead author of the book The Machinery of Democracy: Protecting Elections in an Electronic World (Academy Chicago Press) and a contributor to the Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties (Routledge 2007).
In addition to his voting work, Mr. Norden has authored numerous articles and reports detailing the need to reform New York State's legislative process. He manages and writes for the Brennan Center’s blog on New York State, ReformNY. Mr. Norden is an Adjunct Professor at the NYU School of Law, where he teaches the Brennan Center Public Policy Advocacy Clinic.
Selected Media Appearances
Discussing experiences at the polls, Talk of the Nation/NPR (11/4/08)
Discussing potential problems in Florida, All Things Considered/NPR (10/27/08)
Discussing voting software flaws in Ohio, Lou Dobbs/CNN (8/21/08)
Discussing The Machinery of Democracy, The Tavis Smiley Show/PBS (07/25/2007)
"A Look Under the Hood at Democracy's Engine", New York Times (09/01/06)
