PSPPI - Rapoport

February 01, 2023

SIU’s Paul Simon Institute to host champion of universal voting in United States

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Miles Rapoport, a former secretary of state and state legislator in Connecticut and national leader of progressive causes, will make the case for mandatory voting in the United States next week during a virtual event sponsored by Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. 

Rapoport will join John Shaw, institute director, at 10 a.m. Feb. 6 for a conversation via Zoom as part of the institute’s Understanding Our New World series. Rapoport and Shaw will discuss Rapoport’s new book, “100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting,” which he co-wrote with Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne. 

The event is free and open to the public; registration is required to gain access to the Zoom webinar. Visit paulsimoninstitute.org/events to register. 

Rapoport is the executive director of 100% Democracy, a group established to launch a national debate of, and advocate for, universal voting. He is also a senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy at the Ash Center of the Harvard Kennedy School. Rapoport served five terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives, from 1984 to 1994. He chaired the committee on elections. He was Connecticut Secretary of the State from 1995 to 1998, leading a number of initiatives to expand voting and participation. 

He was president of Dēmos, a liberal think tank, from 2001 to 2014, and president of Common Cause, a watchdog group, from 2014 to 2016.   

“Miles impressively combines lofty idealism with nuts-and-bolts pragmatism that he has gained through decades of work in the political arena,” Shaw said. “He has long been at the forefront of progressive causes and has been a champion of ideas to renew and expand our democracy.” 

Attendees are encouraged to submit questions for Rapoport on the registration form or email questions to paulsimoninstitute@siu.edu.