UCLA Law’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, Hammer present series on free and fair elections

As the November election approaches, the Hammer Museum at UCLA and the UCLA School of Law's Safeguarding Democracy Project have teamed up to host a series of public forums addressing some of voters' biggest concerns, such as the fairness of the electoral college, allegations of election fraud and the spread of misinformation.

"The Hammer Forum: 2024 Presidential Election" series will be moderated by election law expert Rick Hasen, a professor at UCLA Law and director of the project. Following the 2020 election, Hasen realized the most important issue facing American democracy is the ability to continue to hold free and fair elections and have peaceful transitions of power.

"That was something that we all took for granted in the past - but can't anymore," said Hasen, who received his doctorate from UCLA's political science department and J.D. from UCLA Law. "There's a lot of anxiety about the elections, because there's so much at stake, and people are so polarized these days."

So instead of feeding into people's anxieties, he thinks it's better "to give people the tools to be able to understand what the risks are to our democracy, and what is being done to assure that we continue to have free and fair elections in the United States."

Hasen says the idea of the Safeguarding Democracy Project is to bring together people from across the ideological spectrum and across disciplines.

"There aren't a lot of places where you might get a computer scientist, a historian and a lawyer in a room talking about elections, all with different perspectives," he said.

Claudia Bestor, who leads public programs at the Hammer, says the museum has a shared goal to foster voter engagement in the Los Angeles area to help counter rising voter pessimism. That's why it aims to make the democratic process easier, particularly for students who face disenfranchisement.

"Creating a space for people to interact with each other is really important to us," Bestor said. "We want to be a place where people can freely talk to the person next to them and start a conversation about abortion - or whatever the topic of the day is."

The series kicks off on Sept. 17 with "Democracy and Risks to the 2024 Elections." Among other topics, the discussion will address credible allegations of election fraud in the context of disinformation and political violence. Panelists include Leah Aden from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute, Justin Levitt from Loyola Law School, and Yoel Roth of Match Group.

On Sept. 25, there will be a screening of the documentary "One Person, One Vote?" The film follows four presidential electors representing different parties in Colorado during the 2020 election.

The series continues on Oct. 8 with "The United States Electoral College and Fair Elections." Panelists include UCLA Law's Joey Fishkin, Amanda Hollis-Brusky of Pomona College, and Derek Muller of the University of Notre Dame.

On Oct. 15, "From November 5 to January 6: Are We Ready for a Fair and Legitimate Election?" will include an analysis of potential dangers to the upcoming election's legitimacy, safety and public reception. The panelists include Larry Diamond and Ben Ginsberg of Stanford University, Rachel Kleinfeld from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Franita Tolson of USC Law.

All forums are free and open to the public. For more information go to the Hammer Museum website.