USD to Host National Voter Registration Day and Constitution Day Events Sept. 17
“The events are aimed at fostering informed and active citizenship among students, equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to meaningfully engage in their communities,” said Julia Hellwege, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Political Science and director of the Allene R. Chiesman Center for Democracy.
All events are free and open to the public.
#YotesVote Voter Registration
All Day | Muenster University Center Pit Lounge and USD – Sioux Falls
The Political Science League, College Democrats, College Republicans and League of Women Voters will have voter registration information in the Muenster University Center Pit Lounge throughout the day. The League of Women Voters will be tabling at USD – Sioux Falls.
Reading of the Preamble to the United States Constitution
10:20 a.m. | Knudson School of Law Student Commons
Election Integrity and Reform Panel
11:30 a.m. Lunch | 12 p.m. Panel | Muenster University Center Ballroom
Panelists include scholars from across the country, including the following.
Mara Suttmann-Lea
Suttmann-Lea is an associate professor of American Politics in the Department of Government and International Relations at Connecticut College. Suttmann-Lea researches and teaches about election laws and administration, political parties and campaigns, and political engagement. They are also a 2024 Andrew Carnegie Fellow, focusing on assessing how election officials can de-polarize perceptions of electoral integrity in the United States.
Suttmann-Lea is also the host of the podcast “What Voting Means to Me.”
Paul Friesen
Friesen is a postdoctoral associate at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell University studying Democratic Threats and Resilience. He completed his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Notre Dame and is a former Dissertation Year Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Friesen’s research and teaching interests include democratization, elections, political parties, and political behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa. His dissertation research focuses on partisanship and ideology in Botswana and Zimbabwe.
As a development professional and political analyst at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, Friesen supported the Southern and East Africa team in winning and managing democracy-strengthening grants in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Prior to that, Friesen completed internships with The Fund for Peace, World Vision International, and Joint Aid Management in Washington, D.C. He also served as a research assistant for the Afrobarometer.
Bradley Smith
Smith is the Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. He has held prior visiting appointments at Princeton University and West Virginia University.
Smith is the author or co-author of three books on election law and voting rights, and his articles have appeared both in academic publications including the Yale Law Journal, Georgetown Law Journal, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, George Washington University Law Review, the Harvard Business Law Journal, the Stanford Law & Policy Review, and many others, and in popular publications including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, the Atlantic, National Review, and elsewhere. He was recognized in 2016 as one of the nation’s top 10 scholars in the field of election law based on scholarly impact.
From June 2000 until August 2005, Smith served as commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, including as vice chairman in 2003 and chairman in 2004.
Smith is also the founder and Chairman of the Institute for Free Speech, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting and defending American citizens’ First Amendment political speech rights.
Joshua Douglas
Douglas is the acting associate dean for research, the Ashland, Inc.-Spears Distinguished Research Professor of Law, and a university research professor at the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law. He teaches and researches election law and voting rights, civil procedure, constitutional law and judicial decision making. Douglas is the author of “Vote for US: How to Take Back our Elections and Change the Future of Voting” (Prometheus Books 2019), a popular press book that provides hope and inspiration for a positive path forward on voting rights. His latest book is “The Court v. The Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights” (Beacon Press 2024).
Event sponsors include Chiesman Center for Democracy, Department of Political Science, USD Knudson School of Law, American Constitution Society, The Federalists Society, and the Opportunity Center.
“UNDIVIDE Us” Film Screening
7 p.m. | Coyote Twin Theatre
“UNDIVIDE US” challenges the idea that citizens who disagree are not capable of civil conversation and demonstrates the truth that, even in our differences, the American experiment is still alive and well.
Sponsored by the Opportunity Center.
For more information about how USD is promoting civic engagement, visit usd.edu/Civics.
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