Join us for a moderated Civil Disagreements program featuring informed perspectives on election security, voting access, public trust, and the integrity of our elections!
Free and fair elections depend on both secure election systems and public confidence in their results. Yet Americans continue to disagree about the nature and extent of the threats facing our elections, the effectiveness of existing safeguards, and whether proposed reforms would strengthen election integrity or make it more difficult for eligible voters to participate.
How secure are elections in the United States today? Which risks deserve the greatest attention, from voter fraud and foreign interference to cybersecurity threats, misinformation, and challenges facing election workers? Do measures such as voter identification requirements, expanded mail-in voting, improved auditing procedures, and updated voting technology protect the democratic process, undermine access, or accomplish some combination of both?
Registration for this event is now closed.
Moderator
Alisa Kaplan, Executive Director, Reform for Illinois: Moderator
Alisa was appointed to the position of Executive Director, Reform for Illinois, in 2020; before that she was RFI’s Policy Director. RFI is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan public interest group that conducts research and advocates for reforms to promote public participation in government, address money in politics, and encourage integrity, accountability, and transparency in government. She is also a Faculty Lecturer in Political Science & Legal Studies at Northwestern University. Alisa received her J.D. from Northwestern University and her undergrad from Yale.
Panelists
Noah Praetz, President, Ready for Tuesday
Noah administered elections in Cook County, Illinois for two decades before co-founding The Elections Group in 2020 and launching Ready for Tuesday in 2026. He consults on election administration, operations, and security, and has published widely on election integrity and testified before committees of the U.S. House and Senate. He is a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School and an adjunct professor at DePaul University College of Law. Noah received his J.S. from DePaul University College of Law where he was on Law Review. His undergrad is from Bradley University in Peoria.
June Brown, Board Secretary, Chicago Board of Elections
Brown has presided over hearings in elections for both Chicago and Cook County Electoral Boards; worked at Election Central for federal, state, and local elections; and served as an appointed public member for electoral boards. She has continued to hone her skills through her work as an administrative law judge, arbitrator, mediator, and training facilitator. She has served as a judge and mentor with International Law School Competitions, as the Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, as an appointed member of the Kogan Committee and the Public Affairs Committee with the Chicago Bar Association. She currently serves as a Co-Chair of Outreach for the ABA Dispute Resolutions Section. Brown is a graduate of UIC Law School (formerly John Marshall Law School) and the University of Southern California. She also completed studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Anthony Bega, Lake County Clerk
Anthony has served as Cook County Clerk since 2022; he is also Treaurer of the Young Democrats of Illionois; prior to that time he served as Chief of Staff to the Lake Country Sheriff’s Office, and Organizer for the Sierra Club Illinois Chapter. Anthony holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Loyola University of Chicago and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government from Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY.
Elizabeth Yang, President, WStrong LLC
Elizabeth is a current consultant and President of WStrong, LLC, where she focuses on strategic leadership and individual and organizational well-being and advancement by creating opportunities to have open conversations, see starting points, discover commonalities, and begin to work together. Prior to WStrong, she was a Co-Reporter for the ABA Task Force for American Democracy and ABA’s Deputy Director, Division for Public Services; she also served as Legislative and Public Affairs Coordinator for the Community Association Institute. Elizabeth received her J.D. from Syracuse School of Law and her undergrad degree from the University of Virginia.
Civil Disagreements Debate Series is a series of moderated debates on current, critical, and often contentious civic questions sponsored by the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the American Bar Association‘s Division for Public Education, the American Constitution Society (Chicago and Austin, TX chapters), the Federalist Society (Chicago chapter), Reform for Illinois, Courts Matter Illinois, and other organizations as noted.
CLE Credits
Continuing legal education (CLE) credits are available to Illinois lawyers for 30 days from the program date. Please note that you will need to provide your ARDC number. There is no online option.
If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact us at ccl@chicagocouncil.org or by giving us a call at 224-301-5808.
