James A. Gardner, vice dean for academic affairs at the UB Law School, looked at the American election system days before what many experts call one of the most important elections in recent history during a public discussion held Oct. 30.

Gardner, who has been quoted extensively by national and regional media, shared his experience and research on voter fraud and crucial voting procedures. Do we still have the ability to run a fair, democratic election? Did we ever?

Although Gardner has warned against political propaganda exaggerating voter fraud, he also has said election law and procedure still merit close scrutiny. A recent Supreme Court decision upholding voter ID requirements in Indiana provides legal support for the aggressive use of anti-fraud measures, even though voter fraud was "essentially a non-existent problem."

"This raises the specter, as it did during the last election cycle," Gardner says, "of Republicans invoking anti-fraud measures improperly to suppress legitimate voting, often by the elderly, blacks, the poor and other groups that might have a tendency to lean Democratic."

Professor James Gardner is the Joseph W. Belluck and Laura L. Aswad Professor of Civil Justice, and Director of the Law School's Edwin F. Jaeckle Center for State and Local Democracy. This was a public event, held in the Conference Center, 509 O'Brian Hall in UB's Law School.

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UBLaw20081103.mp3

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