Dear Friends of the National Institute —
Only 47 days away, the upcoming 2020 election may prove to be the most important national election in our lifetimes. Not necessarily for who does or does not win, but rather because it is shaping up to be no less than a referendum on American democracy itself.
National politics has become hyper-polarized and hyper-partisan, and the electorate has rarely been more divided. Partisan squabbling has gridlocked Washington, rendering government ineffectual at addressing the many pressing challenges we face as a nation. Meanwhile, increased voting by mail, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, has attracted unprecedented levels of controversy and suspicion. Some have even begun to preemptively cast doubt on the validity of the election itself, depending on its outcome.
Against this daunting backdrop, we invite you to hear from four experts from across the spectrum of electoral politics about what is at stake and what can be done.
Please join us IN ONE WEEK for an extremely timely and important bi-partisan virtual forum featuring four experts on electoral politics: the co-founder of Represent.us, a retired U.S. Navy Admiral, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute and Coalition.
This promises to be a critical and insightful conversation about one of the most pressing issues of the day. We encourage you to join us and ask your own questions about the vote, the election, and the future of democracy in America.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
4:00 to 5:30 pm ET (US and Canada)
This forum is sponsored by the National Institute of Social Sciences and is free and open to the general public. In order to attend, you must click the link above to register in advance for the event. The event will be recorded for those who cannot attend it live.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Fred Larsen
President, Board of Trustees
Panelists:
Joshua Graham Lynn (Moderator) is the co-founder and managing director of Represent.Us, a movement of independents, progressives, and conservatives that pursues federal reform through action in the states. Represent.Us seeks to pass powerful anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money, and fix our broken elections. Since the organization's inception in 2012, Mr. Lynn has led movement and brand building and helped build Represent.Us into an 800,000-person strong, bona fide bi-partisan political movement. Mr. Lynn is a Trustee of the National Institute of Social Sciences.
Admiral Steve Abbot, USN (Retired) served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, a private, non-profit aid society dedicated to assisting Sailors, Marines and their families until September 2019. From October 2001, to May 2003, he served as the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to the President. Admiral Abbot’s last military assignment was Deputy Commander in Chief, U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. He oversaw the daily activities of a Unified Combatant Command with an area of responsibility encompassing 89 countries and more than 13 million square miles.
Born in Pensacola, Florida, Admiral Abbot graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1962, and the United States Naval Academy in 1966. His graduate studies include Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Admiral Abbot also completed U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and Naval Nuclear Power training. Admiral Abbot serves as a Director of the Naval Academy Foundation and the Chairman of Smiths Interconnect, Inc.
Carlos Curbelo was born in Miami, Florida in 1980, to political refugees who fled tyranny and oppression in Cuba. He was educated in the public school system and then at Belen Jesuit. From there he became a student at the University of Miami where he obtained a Bachelor’s in Business Administration while majoring in Political Science. He later returned to UM for a Masters in Public Administration.
In 2002, Carlos founded a public and media relations firm which he led successfully for 12 years. In 2010 he was elected to represent his community on the Miami-Dade County School Board, and in 2014 he was elected to Congress, where he served until January of 2019. In Congress Carlos was consistently ranked one of the most bipartisan Members of Congress and led on difficult issues like climate policy, immigration, gun reform, and tax policy. In 2017, Curbelo was honored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation with the New Frontier Award for his work promoting bipartisan cooperation on environmental policy.
Today Carlos co-leads Vocero and serves as an on-air analyst for NBC NEWS, MSNBC, Telemundo, NBC6 and Telemundo 51. Carlos has been married to his wife Cecilia since 2006. They have two daughters Sylvie and Carolina.
Amber McReynolds is one of the country’s leading experts on election administration and policy, and co-author of the book “When Women Vote”. Amber is the CEO for the National Vote At Home Institute and Coalition and is the former Director of Elections for Denver, Colorado. During her time as an elections official, she transformed the elections division into a national and international award-winning office. She has proven that putting voters first and designing pro-voter policies, voter-centric processes, and implementing technical innovations will improve the voting experience for all voters.
Amber serves on the National Election Task Force on Election Crises, as an advisory board member for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Election and Data Science Lab, Represent Women Board of Directors, City Year Denver Board of Directors, and serves on various advisory boards for other national organizations focused on improving election administration. Among other accolades, Amber was also named by Governing Magazine as a 2018 Top Public Official of the Year for her work. Amber holds a Masters of Science degree in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Communications from the University of Illinois.