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Department of
Political Science
Department of
Chicana/o Studies
Contact Info
Bunche Hall 3345
barretom@ucla.edu
909-489-2955
Instructors:
Course Description: This year-long course exposes students to voting rights act theory, case law, history, research and then implementation and is part of the UCLA Voting Rights Project (VRP). This course is offered concurrently with LAW 832, and Law, Public Policy and Social Science students will meet together, in-person every Thursday in Law 1430. On Tuesdays, there is an option to meet through a combination of Zoom and possibly in-person and those sessions will often times be focused on legal casework and only Law students will be required to meet Tuesdays, and other times we will use the Tuesday meeting for more in-depth technical and hands-on training, especially of mapping software for ALL STUDENTS. Thursday class sessions are required for everyone. This collaborative course is taught from the perspective of social science research, and civil rights and voting rights, and co-taught by Professor Matt Barreto (Political Science & Chicana/o Studies) and nationally preeminent civil and voting rights attorney Mr. Chad Dunn (Luskin Public Affairs & School of Law). In addition, different experts from the UCLA VRP and others from across the country will participate as "guest experts" to provide their perspective on how to study, research and document various aspects related to voting rights. In particular, students will hear from professional voting rights experts including Michael Rios (Sr. Data Scientist), Sonni Waknin and Bernadette Reyes (Sr. Staff Attorneys) who have been instrumental to successful state and federal VRA lawsuits. The course will cover the theoretical factors involved in a voting rights lawsuit, such as the history of discrimination against minority groups in the areas of employment, education, housing, and political representation, and will also give students the chance to participate in a potential real-world VRA lawsuit. Students will learn, and eventually implement themselves, an in-depth study of the legal, historical and statistical approach to document the presence or absence vote dilution or vote denial in different jurisdictions in California, or across the country. All students will investigate a jurisdiction of their choice in the Fall and the final assignment will be to turn a mock legal complaint, explaining why the jurisdiction could be diluting or denying equal voting rights. Finally, by the Spring, students will work in teams to research and help prepare a complaint that could inform a future lawsuit against a jurisdiction, if they are out of compliance with a State or Federal voting rights act, and the research students conduct in this course will serve as important teaching and learning opportunities to understand voting rights from both a legal and social science perspective. An important note about AI: While we recognize that many computerized search algorithms are helpful to assist in social science and legal research, it is strongly discouraged that students use AI in this course for their final project. To the extent that any AI is relied upon, even for basic summary searches, it is required to report the use and explain how it was used. Failure to do so will result in a failing grade and referral to academic misconduct. Indeed, in Federal Court, lawyers are now required to certify whether any portion of their briefs relied on AI and how. Tentative Description of year-long course (Fall 2025, Winter/Spring 2026) The course would proceed as follows: Fall quarter: students will work on their own to research various jurisdictions across the country that may or may not be out of compliance with state and federal voting rights laws. Students would research the history of any discrimination, how minority-preferred candidates have fared when running for office, the racial/ethnic demographics of the community, and the current political and social climate in the jurisdiction. At the conclusion of the Fall quarter each student will submit a complaint as to the factors in the the jurisdiction suggestive of a voting rigths violation. Over the winter break, Professors Barreto and Dunn will review all evidence and select two to three jurisdictions in which to follow up on in the Winter/Spring in clinical education. Winter quarter: students would learn in more detail the legal theory relevant to bringing a successful voting rights challenge, as well as how to assemble and present the social science evidence. Students would be divided into teams to work on different aspects of a potential complaint against the jurisdictions selected by Barreto and Dunn over the break. Instruction would focus on the practical aspects of a voting rights lawsuit, and students would read case law on prior VRA decisions as well as read and review the accompanying expert reports that were filed. Students will also receive two guest lectures with hands-on instruction by Dr. Tye Rush (UC Davis) on how to implement redistricting maps using GIS. Spring quarter independent study: As the research and preparation for the class-project complaint(s) proceed, students would work on all aspects of the voting rights cases with Barreto and Dunn, including how-to examples of preparing expert research reports, legal argumentation and filings, preparation of expert depositions and other matters related to a hypothetical case. In addition to working directly on the educational project, the clinic would continue with lectures and practicum on voting rights in general with presentations from outside experts including other faculty on campus, as well as experts in the field from off-campus in the Los Angeles area. Note on Law students: The UCLA Law School operates on a 2-semester schedule, not a 3-quarter schedule. As such, Law students start about 4 weeks earlier in the Fall, and end about 5 weeks earlier in the Spring. To accomodate this, some sessions are ONLY for Law students, and the Spring semester is more of a workshop/clinic. Course Materials & Readings
FALL QUARTER 2025 | |||||||||
