Federal authorities are investigating ballot box fires in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, that damaged hundreds of ballots and are raising security concerns with Election Day approaching.
Local officials are taking steps to bolster ballot box security. Voters impacted by the fires are encouraged to seek ballot replacements to ensure their votes count.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight, analysis and commentary on political violence and possible legal challenges surrounding the election. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact the GW Media Relations team at [email protected].
Political Violence
Matt Dallek, a professor at GW’s Graduate School of Political Management, is a political historian with expertise in the intersection of social crises and political transformation, the evolution of the modern conservative movement, and liberalism and its critics. Along with four co-authored books, Dallek is the author of Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right, which explores the history and influence of America’s right-wing activism.
Jon Lewis is a research fellow at the GW Program on Extremism. He studies domestic violent extremism and homegrown violent extremism, with a specialization in the evolution of white supremacist and anti-government movements in the United States and federal responses to the threat. Lewis is the co-author of two major Program reports on the events of January 6th, as well as numerous long form publications on the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and their role in the events of January 6th. In addition, Lewis manages the Program's Capitol Hill Siege database, which is a public tracker for all federal cases stemming from J6 participation.
Legal Challenges
Paul Schiff Berman is the Walter S. Cox Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. Berman is one of the world’s foremost theorists on the interactions among legal systems. Professor Berman is an expert on constitution and administrative law.
Alan B. Morrison, Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service Law; Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University Law School. Dean Morrison is an expert in constitutional law and has argued in front of the Supreme Court 20 times.
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