Advancing Democratic Access and Inclusion beyond the 2020 Election:
Lessons from University-Community Partnerships
Friday, December 4, 2020
Event recordings can be found below!
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The past election cycle in Houston witnessed significant university and community collaboration to ensure democratic access and inclusion. The Center for Civic Leadership will bring together community leaders and faculty and students from Rice University and the University of Houston to reflect on their work and to share perspectives going forward on three important issues: the Census count, the right to vote, and the processes for free and fair elections.
Event Recordings:
Introduction: Caroline Quenemoen, Center for Civic Leadership, Rice University
Roundtable 1: The 2020 Census: The Count and Why it Matters
Roundtable participants will be asked to address big questions, such as what are the structural barriers to a full US Census count, and why are some populations more difficult to count than others, and engage in more concrete discussions about recent efforts to promote and facilitate Census participation in undercounted communities. Central to this conversation will be the work that the roundtable participants have been doing on these issues, as well as their perspectives on some of the short and long-term implications of an undercount in Harris County, and how we might work to address those effects.
Dr. Jenifer L. Bratter
Professor of Sociology at Rice University and the founding director of BRIDGE (Building Research on Inequality to Grow Equity).
Sasha Marshall
Planner IV, City of Houston Department of Planning and Development
Ana McNaught
Census Coordinator, Houston In Action
Students:
Sana Mohamed, Daniel Wang
Moderator:
Rachel Kimbro
Professor of sociology at Rice University and the founding director of the Kinder Institute's Urban Health Program
Roundtable 2: Engaging and Mobilizing Underrepresented Populations
Roundtable participants will be asked to address big questions, such as what are the structural barriers to increasing voter engagement and participation among historically underrepresented populations, and engage in more concrete discussions of efforts to mobilize and turnout those populations through recent grassroots and grasstops efforts. Central to this conversation will be the work that the roundtable participants have been doing on these issues, as well as their perspectives on the recent and future challenges and opportunities, especially in Harris County.
Melissa Marschall
Professor of Political Science at Rice University and the director of the Kinder Institute's Center for Local Elections in American Politics (LEAP)
Jeronimo Cortina
Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Houston
Angelica Razo
Texas State Director, Mi Famila Vota
Frances Valdez
Executive Director, Houston In Action
Students:
Diego Degenhart, Daphne Flores, and Spoorthi Kamepalli
Moderator:
Fay Yarbrough
Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Special Projects; Associate Professor of History Rice University
Roundtable 3: Making Voting and Elections Administration More Accessible and Inclusive
Roundtable participants will be asked to address big questions such as, what do we mean when we talk about fair, safe, and accessible elections, and engage in more concrete discussions of how such goals have been and might be pursued and operationalized going forward. Central to the conversation will be the work that the roundtable participants have been doing on these issues, as well as their perspectives on recent and future challenges and opportunities, especially in Harris County.
Dan S. Wallach
Professor of Computer Science and of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University
Brandon Rottinghaus
Pauline Yelderman Chair of Political Science, University of Houston
Benjamin Chou
Director of Innovation, Harris County Clerkâs Office
Ben Adida
Executive Director, Voting Works
Students:
Carolyn Daly, Arisa Sadeghpour, and Syed Naqvi
Moderator:
Mason Reece
Symposium highlights, synthesis, and conclusion
Robert Stein
Lena Grohlman Fox Professor of Political Science at Rice University