Through the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project, the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute plan a collaborative effort extending through the 2008 presidential election to develop a bipartisan, practical national policy for election reform. Participants will synthesize research, monitor the implementation of the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and its proposed amendments, and ensure that research and policy recommendations are fed into the policy process in a timely and productive manner. Important goals of the reform project are to better inform policymakers, provide a more comprehensive view of election reform changes within the national policy community, raise the profile for election reform issues within Washington, and improve coordination among groups and researchers around the county. An important accomplishment of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project will be a national clearinghouse of information on HAVA.

After a keynote address by Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.), two panels will discuss the past and future of election administration. The first panel will look at the implementation successes and failures of HAVA. The second panel will discuss the changes voters should expect to see in the future.

Transcript and video excerpts are available at:  http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/20060208.htm