Join the Center for Civic Engagement, Department of Politics and Government, and the McLean County League of Women Voters on October 19 at 6 p.m. at the Bone Student Center, Brown Ballroom I for a campus and community Deliberative Dialogue. The issue guide Elections: How Should We Encourage and Safeguard Voting? will be used for the event, which is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
Deliberative Dialogues are guided conversations on a political or controversial topic. This model of conversation removes polarizing positions and one-sided lectures by simply asking participants to investigate specific solutions to an issue through the help of an issue guide and facilitator.
“The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) has made a commitment to hosting one campus-community dialogue each semester,” said Harriett Steinbach, CCE assistant director. “This opens a chance for students who have not done a dialogue in a class to have an opportunity to participate and creates an opportunity for community members to participate in a dialogue. By bringing students and the community together, the experience is enriched with a variety of perspectives. This is also a great time to talk about elections.”
According to the issue guide for this topic, many Americans believe we need a better system that ensures all eligible voters can vote and that we can trust the accuracy of the results. Through the deliberative conversation guided by the issue guide and a facilitator, participants will discuss things like voter ID laws, inconsistent local, state, and federal laws governing elections, and the Electoral College, among other topics.
