Each year to celebrate Constitution Day, students from Case Western Reserve University put together a student-led discussion forum with two guest speakers to debate various constitutional issues pertinent to current events.

This year’s Constitution Day Forum is entitled Battle for the Ballot Box, and centers around voting rights in America. The event will take place on Monday, Sept. 16, 2019 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. in the Moot Courtroom at the CWRU School of Law. 

The two featured speakers are Alora Thomas-Lundborg, J.D., senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union voting rights project and Hans von Spakovsky, J.D., senior legal fellow at the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation.

In preparation for this year’s Constitution Day Roundtable (CDR), Madeline Myers, a second-year student in political science and philosophy as well as the Secretary, Mistress of Ceremonies and one of the Co-Chairs of this year’s event sat down to talk to The Observer. 

According to Ms. Myers, “CDR is an organization that was created to give a balanced discussion on issues related to the Constitution. Our work informs the CWRU community on the Constitution, which as citizens and non-citizens of the United States is incredibly important.”

Q: How did you get involved with CDR? 

A: Last year, I went to a meeting with Phi Alpha Delta (the pre-law fraternity) where I was introduced to members of the committee. After discussing what CDR did, I wanted to get more involved, so I asked if they needed help with the forum. I was then offered the role of being a timekeeper, and the rest is history. 

Q: How did you come up with this year’s idea for CDR?

A: We discussed many ideas, however, the issue of voting and voter suppression kept coming up in conversation. Eventually, we all came to an agreement on the topic and it was set. 

Q: What do you hope becomes of CDR in the future? 

A: I hope CDR eventually will be considered a main event for CWRU, not just for the Department of Political Science and the Center for Policy Studies. More importantly, I would like to see high-level elected officials come and speak at the event.