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Voting in America: Rights, Challenges and the Path Forward
Two Zoom Sessions
Mon., Sept. 8, 15, 2025, 6:30-8:30 pm MT

Is there anything more important in democracy than voting rights? And are those rights at risk? This course offers answers and much more by examining the latest challenges to voting rights in the U.S. since the Voting Rights Act―analyzing how electoral access has evolved through court decisions, laws and administrative practices. Led by political science professor Michael Greenberger, students explore key developments, including the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder, voter identification requirements, redistricting controversies, felony disenfranchisement policies and issues in election administration. “We look at research, case law and policy to consider how racial dynamics continue to shape ballot access and electoral participation, with specific attention on voting rights issues and election procedures in Colorado,” Greenberger says.

He also explores perspectives from legal studies, political science and research to evaluate the value of voting rights protections and their impact on democratic participation. In addition, students examine frameworks for assessing vote dilution, racial polarization in voting patterns, the burden standard in voting rights law and disparate impacts of facially neutral election procedures. “By analyzing both national trends and Colorado-specific examples, my goal is to help students develop a nuanced understanding of the tension between expanding and restricting the franchise in contemporary American democracy, and how reforms affect communities' electoral influence.”

, assistant professor of political science at the ������, researches how federal and state policies interact with local politics to shape elections. His book project on mapping American authoritarianism examines the role electoral institutions played in ending reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow.