Professor Douglas Writes Book about Changing the Future of Voting

April 9, 2019
Joshua A. Douglas, Thomas P. Lewis Professor of Law at UK Law, is an expert on US election law and his book Vote for US: How to Take Back Our Elections and Change the Future of Voting presents an assessment of current efforts to make the U.S. voting system more accessible, reliable and effective.

Told through the narratives of those working on positive voting rights reforms, Douglas includes chapters on expanding voter eligibility, easing voter registration rules, making voting more convenient, enhancing accessibility at the polls, providing voters with more choices, finding ways to comply with voter ID rules, giving redistricting back to the voters, pushing back on big money through local and state efforts, using journalism to make the system more accountable, and improving civics education.  Additionally, the book includes an appendix that lists organizations all over the country working on these efforts.

“Joshua A. Douglas is one of the most important voting-rights experts in the country today. In Vote for US he deftly chronicles how we can make it easier for every American to vote. An inspiring, innovative, and must-read book about how to take back our democracy,” according to Ari Berman, senior reporter at Mother Jones and author of Give Us the Ballot.

“Douglas’s ability to tell stories of real Americans working to improve our electoral process paints a hopeful picture of our democracy. This inspiring book will leave readers optimistic about the strength of our country and the values for which it stands,” according to Chris Carso, president, League of Women Voters of the United States.

Professor Douglas’s most recent scholarship focuses on the constitutional right to vote, with an emphasis on state constitutions, as well as the various laws, rules and judicial decisions impacting election administration.  He has also written extensively on election law procedure. He is a coauthor of an election-law case book and a coeditor of Election Law Stories, which tells the behind-the-scenes stories of the major cases in the field.  In addition, his media commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, CNN, Reuters, the Washington Post, Politico, the Atlantic, Huffington Post, and Slate, among other outlets, and he has been quoted in major newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.  He appeared live on CNN on Election Day 2016.