US Election Series: Time for action, not talk

September 22, 2020 Anya Schiffrin and Allynn McInerney

SIPA students spent the summer taking action: marching in the streets, supporting #BLM, buying and donating masks and PPE, and volunteering in their communities. Now, with the U.S. presidential election at hand, it’s time to take that SIPA spirit and passion for action and channel it toward getting out the vote. We’ve been concerned for a long time by the shockingly low turnout of young people in the U.S. Despite the seriousness of the moment, voter turnout of people under the age of 30 in primaries and causes this year was below 25% in many places. Generally, fewer than 20% of voters under 30 turn out, compared to 55% of the population overall and 70% of voters older than 60.

“There is good scientific evidence that if young people turned out at the same rates as older citizens, our American democracy would be transformed,” wrote public policy and education assistant professor John Holbein in an article in The Conversation earlier this year.

Here at SIPA’s Technology, Media, and Communications (TMaC) specialization, we are urging students vote and help others to do so. We’ve long been involved in organizing events around the U.S. elections, as this topic fits with our emphasis on communications and advocacy. In 2018, we hosted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and registered voters on site. This fall we are organizing three different events in conjunction with SIPA at large, including with co-sponsorships from the Urban and Social Policy concentration and Journal of International Affairs.

As members of the Morningside Heights community, we want you to join the conversation. On September 29, we’ll be discussing the urgent need to regulate online political advertising and bring together speakers who have developed common-sense policy proposals to do just that. On October 15, we’re hosting a conversation on race and inequality in the elections with Professors Ester Fuchs and Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, along with journalist Farai Chideya. On October 20, we’re bringing together journalists from all over the world to tell us how they cover the U.S. elections for their audiences. We hope to see you all there and—if you are a U.S. citizen—please DON’T FORGET TO VOTE.

Below, we’ve included full descriptions of the events and registration links for those interested in attending:

September 29, 6:30 p.m.

Regulatory Fixes for Online Political Advertising

Nathalie Marechal (Ranking Digital Rights), Ann Ravel (former FEC Commissioners), Rebekah Tromble (Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics), Jamal Watkins (NAACP), and Anya Schiffrin (Columbia SIPA, Roosevelt Institute).

Overview: Online political advertising is largely unregulated in the U.S. and the U.S. lags European countries that have found ways to address this problem. However, in the last few months a number of practical solutions have been made that could address the problem of false and inflammatory online political advertising. These include banning microtargeting, boycotting Facebook, strengthening disclosure of funding and providing newsfeeds of quality election news. Join us for a panel of experts who will discuss innovative ideas to tackle a key problem of our time.

https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1mfuHWniTGyTF4nV668zMA

Meeting ID: 942 3111 9199; Passcode: 645157

October 15, 6:30-7:45 p.m.

Race, Inequality and Perspectives on the U.S. Elections

Alex Hertel-Fernandez, Farai Chideya-Chihota and Ester Fuchs

Co-sponsored by the Urban and Social Policy concentration

Overview: Amid COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movements, racial and economic equality are key to the U.S. elections.. SIPA professors Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, and Ester Fuchs will join Farai Chideya-Chihota, for a discussion of this critical election and its implications for U.S. Democracy.

https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Yu_vDCGjR_aJ54kFX6hDBg

Meeting ID: 944 3191 6016; Passcode: 412017

October 20, 7:00-8:30 p.m.

The U.S. Elections through International Eyes

Introduced by Anya Schiffrin and Moderated by Lydia Tomkiw (Financial Times), Featuring Panelists Chidanrand Rajghatta (Times of India), Bingru Wang (Phoenix TV), José Díaz Briseño (Reforma), David Smith (The Guardian), and Larry Madowo (BBC World News).

Co-sponsored by the Journal of International Affairs

Overview: Every four years, we invite foreign correspondents covering the U.S. elections to tell us about their experiences. What is it like to cover the U.S. presidential race? What stories do the folks back home want to hear about America? And how do foreign correspondents explain our perplexing political system to the rest of the world?

https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gMRMoTNWRfWhb-XKY8rTgA

Meeting ID: 944 3636 7154; Passcode: 608827

Professor Anya Schiffrin is Director of the Technology, Media, and Communications (TMaC) specialization; Allynn McInerney is a second-year Master of Public Administration student and the TMaC Program Assistant.