The State of Voting Rights Today
April 27, 2023
4:30 pm PT, 5:30 pm MT, 6:30 pm CT, 7:30 pm ET
4:30 pm PT, 5:30 pm MT, 6:30 pm CT, 7:30 pm ET
As we hurl ourselves into another Presidential election cycle, join us for conversation with a panel of voting rights activists on the state of voting rights today. Our guests include Mr. Amir Badat, Manager of the Voting Rights Defender and Prepared to Vote Projects (VRD/PTV) and Voting Special Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Ms. Patricia Lassiter, a veteran of local, state, and federal electoral campaigns in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.
Have we made progress? Have we lost ground? What are the challenges to voting rights today? How can you get involved to ensure secure elections open to all?
Don't let those who want to restrict voting win in 2024 and beyond!
Have we made progress? Have we lost ground? What are the challenges to voting rights today? How can you get involved to ensure secure elections open to all?
Don't let those who want to restrict voting win in 2024 and beyond!
SPEAKERS
Mr. Amir Badat
Mr. Amir Badat
Amir Badat serves as Manager of the Voting Rights Defender and Prepared to Vote Projects (VRD/PTV) and Voting Special Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. As Manager of VRD/PTV, Amir leads LDF’s year-round election protection and voter education efforts, using legal, organizing, and advocacy tools to ensure that Black voters across the South have open access to the ballot box. As Voting Special Counsel, Amir uses litigation, legislative, and public education strategies to promote racial justice in area of political participation. Amir is part of the litigation team in Houston Area Urban League v. Abbott, a case challenging Texas’s enactment of an omnibus voter suppression bill following the historic participation of Black voters in the 2020 general election.
Prior to LDF, Amir was an associate at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, LLP, where he focused on complex commercial litigation and maintained an active pro bono practice, representing clients seeking asylum in the United States, restoration of their right to work, and access to police bodycam footage. At Patterson, Amir represented multiple cross-faith coalitions of religious entities submitting amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts combating religious discrimination, challenging attempts to repeal DACA, supporting protections for LGBTQ+ individuals against employment discrimination, and opposing the diversion of funds to build a border wall.
Amir has extensive experience in the voting rights and voter protection space. He has led state-wide voter protection programs and coordinated voter protection efforts for national campaigns.
Amir served as a law clerk to the Honorable Vernon S. Broderick on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A native of Meridian, MS, Amir received his J.D., cum laude, from New York University School of Law and his B.A. from Stanford University with honors in International Relations. He is a member of the New York State Bar.ER OF THE VOTING RIGHTS DEFENDER AND PREPARED TO VOTE PROJECTS (VRD/PTV) AND VOTING SPECIAL COUNSEL
Amir Badat serves as Manager of the Voting Rights Defender and Prepared to Vote Projects (VRD/PTV) and Voting Special Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. As Manager of VRD/PTV, Amir leads LDF’s year-round election protection and voter education efforts, using legal, organizing, and advocacy tools to ensure that Black voters across the South have open access to the ballot box. As Voting Special Counsel, Amir uses litigation, legislative, and public education strategies to promote racial justice in area of political participation. Amir is part of the litigation team in Houston Area Urban League v. Abbott, a case challenging Texas’s enactment of an omnibus voter suppression bill following the historic participation of Black voters in the 2020 general election.
Prior to LDF, Amir was an associate at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, LLP, where he focused on complex commercial litigation and maintained an active pro bono practice, representing clients seeking asylum in the United States, restoration of their right to work, and access to police bodycam footage. At Patterson, Amir represented multiple cross-faith coalitions of religious entities submitting amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts combating religious discrimination, challenging attempts to repeal DACA, supporting protections for LGBTQ+ individuals against employment discrimination, and opposing the diversion of funds to build a border wall.
Amir has extensive experience in the voting rights and voter protection space. He has led state-wide voter protection programs and coordinated voter protection efforts for national campaigns.
Amir served as a law clerk to the Honorable Vernon S. Broderick on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A native of Meridian, MS, Amir received his J.D., cum laude, from New York University School of Law and his B.A. from Stanford University with honors in International Relations. He is a member of the New York State Bar.ER OF THE VOTING RIGHTS DEFENDER AND PREPARED TO VOTE PROJECTS (VRD/PTV) AND VOTING SPECIAL COUNSEL
Ms. Patricia Lassiter
Ms. Patricia Lassiter
Patricia Lassiter (she/her) was born in California, raised in a military family, and has lived in Columbus, Georgia since 2000. She is a political consultant who specializes in leadership training and voter outreach. Before returning to Georgia, she was the Executive Director of The Gainesville (Florida) Women’s Health Center, was elected to and served on the national board of the National Organization for Women and worked to include sexual orientation to the legally protected classes in Alachua County, Florida. Patricia’s background includes volunteering and engaging in civil disobedience with ACTUP, Queer Nation, and several other feminist/civil rights groups.
Always passionate about politics, Patricia became a full-time political operative after leaving a management position at Columbus State University’s Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center. A veteran of local, state, and federal electoral campaigns in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, Patricia was, most recently, the Field Director for Cathy Woolard’s Atlanta Mayoral Campaign. Patricia is the current Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia’s LGBTQ Caucus, providing geographic diversity to Georgia’s ongoing journey toward comprehensive civil rights.
Patricia Lassiter (she/her) was born in California, raised in a military family, and has lived in Columbus, Georgia since 2000. She is a political consultant who specializes in leadership training and voter outreach. Before returning to Georgia, she was the Executive Director of The Gainesville (Florida) Women’s Health Center, was elected to and served on the national board of the National Organization for Women and worked to include sexual orientation to the legally protected classes in Alachua County, Florida. Patricia’s background includes volunteering and engaging in civil disobedience with ACTUP, Queer Nation, and several other feminist/civil rights groups.
Always passionate about politics, Patricia became a full-time political operative after leaving a management position at Columbus State University’s Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center. A veteran of local, state, and federal electoral campaigns in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, Patricia was, most recently, the Field Director for Cathy Woolard’s Atlanta Mayoral Campaign. Patricia is the current Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia’s LGBTQ Caucus, providing geographic diversity to Georgia’s ongoing journey toward comprehensive civil rights.
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Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson
Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson
Gordon Gibson has been involved in organizing and leading pilgrimages to civil rights sites since 2004. During the first weeks after Gordon was ordained, he was in Selma, Alabama, taking part in early phases of the 1965 voting rights campaign there. He also brings his experience of living in Mississippi 1969-1984 when he was the Unitarian Universalist minister in the state. For seven of those years, he was also an investigator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Gordon is the author of Southern Witness: Unitarians and Universalists in the Civil Rights Era, an engaging account of the roles that UU individuals and congregations played in the civil rights movement in the South in the 1950s and '60s. Gordon currently serves as a member of the Board and as the LLP historian. Gordon and his wife Judy are both co-founders of the Living Legacy Project. In retirement, they live in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Gordon Gibson has been involved in organizing and leading pilgrimages to civil rights sites since 2004. During the first weeks after Gordon was ordained, he was in Selma, Alabama, taking part in early phases of the 1965 voting rights campaign there. He also brings his experience of living in Mississippi 1969-1984 when he was the Unitarian Universalist minister in the state. For seven of those years, he was also an investigator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Gordon is the author of Southern Witness: Unitarians and Universalists in the Civil Rights Era, an engaging account of the roles that UU individuals and congregations played in the civil rights movement in the South in the 1950s and '60s. Gordon currently serves as a member of the Board and as the LLP historian. Gordon and his wife Judy are both co-founders of the Living Legacy Project. In retirement, they live in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The program starts at 4:30 pm PT, 5:30 pm MT, 6:30 pm CT, 7:30 pm ET and runs for one-hour, followed by a half-hour question and answer post-discussion. All programs in the Spring Education Series are free and open to the public, but registration is required. Register for one, two, or all three programs!
Minimum suggested donation is $15 per program ($45 total).
Minimum suggested donation is $15 per program ($45 total).