Voting rights to be discussed Tuesday

Voting rights will be discussed in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

The speaker will be Katie A. Cahill, associate director of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and director of the Leadership and Governance Program. Cahill has a courtesy post as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Her Tuesday talk will be to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge. Her talk is titled “Voting Rights, Laws and Trends: A Look Ahead to 2020,” a press release said.

At the Howard Baker Center, Cahill helped establish the TN Campus Civic Summit, now in its third year, and she has been a leader of the multi-organization coalition focused on voter education and engagement, known as Vols Vote, the press release said.

Cahill created a speaking series, “Leading Tennessee Forward,” to provide a forum for candidates for statewide political office to share their visions of the state’s future, the press release said. She leads the Appalachian Leadership Institute, a new initiative funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission, to provide economic development and leadership training to 40 regional fellows. She also serves as the principal investigator in the Healthy Appalachia project.

Cahill has a doctorate degree in political science from Purdue University.  She was associate director of the Purdue Institute for Civic Communication prior to joining the University of Tennessee staff. Her work has been covered in local and national media, the press release said.

Tuesday’s meeting will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The presentation will begin at noon. Lunches are provided by the Soup Kitchen, and they are available at 11:30 a.m. on a first-come basis for $10, or you may bring your own, the press release said. Coffee and tea will be provided.

Lunch with the League is a public service program open to the community, the press release said. Membership in the League of Women Voters is not required, and there is no cost to attend.

The press release said the Howard Baker Center works to promote a participatory democracy and public service grounded in the principles of civility and integrity, through education, research, and student initiatives.