The Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum is currently accepting submissions for Volume II to be published during the 2023-2024 academic year.

General Information:

The Forum is a student-edited online publication within the Voting Rights and Democracy Project at Fordham University School of Law. We publish legal analysis by law professors, scholars, policymakers, legal practitioners and law students on voting rights, election law, democratic institutions, and how these areas intersect with social justice. As one of the first journals with this specific focus, the Forum publishes articles and essays on topics including:

• redistricting and gerrymandering;
• voter disenfranchisement;
• racial discrimination in elections;
• ballot access and reform;
• campaign finance;
• contested elections and post-election litigation;
• reform of democratic institutions;
• separation of powers;
• election administration;
• lobbying and ethics reform;
• recall elections;
• popular referenda and initiatives; and
• the rule of law.

1. Online Forum

The Forum publishes scholarly pieces by law professors, legal practitioners, policymakers, other legal experts, and law students. We are currently reviewing submissions for Volume 2 to be published during the 2023-24 academic year.

The Forum publishes two types of content in our online journal:

Articles:

Articles are typically under 15,000 words (excluding footnotes) and tend to analyze a problem and offer a solution. Articles should provide some background information before addressing a novel argument. Most follow a traditional roadmap of an introduction, background, analysis/arguments, and conclusion. Articles tend to be formal in tone and ground analysis in substantive support with consistent citations. Submissions should include a brief abstract.

Essays:

Essays are typically between 3,000 and 5,000 words (excluding footnotes) and advance an idea, analyze a judicial case, or succinctly summarize a legal development. Essays should be formal in tone, and while there is no preferred structure, student submissions should be particularly mindful to ground analysis in substantive support and cite comprehensively to established scholarly work.

Submission Requirements for Articles and Essays:

• Article and essay submissions to the Forum should be in Microsoft Word (.docx) format, with footnotes, not endnotes, according to the conventions found in the 21st edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.
• Authors should submit a C.V. (or resume) with their manuscript.
• All sources must be readily available in the United States or must be sent by the author upon request.

Articles and Essays are selected based on the thoroughness of the analysis, the originality of the topic and the quality of the writing. Editors work with authors to finalize the work for publication, including conducting a comprehensive review of all sources and citations.

2. Commentary

The Forum publishes guest blog posts (commentaries) from law professors, students, and other legal practitioners. The Forum’s Commentary provides a forum for immediate reactions and analysis of today’s most pressing legal issues affecting voting rights and the practice of democracy.

We are seeking commentaries between 400 and 2,000 words for publication with light editing from the Forum staff. Commentaries are evaluated based on the quality of the analysis and the timeliness of the topic. Editors work with authors to finalize the work for publication, including conducting a comprehensive review of all sources. Commentaries must contain hyperlinks to sources, but need not cite in footnotes.

All Contributions may be submitted via Schoalistica or sent to the Forum’s Executive Commentary Editor at democracyforum.ece@law.fordham.edu with “Commentary Submission” in the subject line.

For more information, please visit the Forum’s submissions page.