Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression - Tapa dura

Spencer Overton attacks the least-inspected area of our democracy: partisan control of the ballot box. While politicians spew shallow sound bites that describe a "free" American people who govern themselves by selecting their representatives, in reality politicians from both parties maintain control by selecting specific voters. Incumbent politicians control thousands of election practices and bureaucratic hurdles that determine who votes and how their votes are counted, including the location of election-district boundaries, the number of booths at urban polling places, and English-only ballots. Spencer Overton uses real-life stories to show how these seemingly insignificant practices channel political power and determine policies on war, schools, clean air, and other issues that shape our lives. He exposes the pressure points in this Orwellian system and provides strategies toward restoring self-government, including removing redistricting power from self-interested partisans and renewing parts of the Voting Rights Act that expire in 2007. Overton's compelling case is vital to the future of our democracy.

Spencer Overton, a professor at George Washington University Law School, served on the Jimmy Carter/James Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform and was the Charles Hamilton Houston Fellow at Harvard Law School. He lives in Washington, DC.