“Slay the Dragon”
Virtual Screening and Panel Discussion
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“Slay the Dragon” shines a light on gerrymandering, and follows a handful of citizens’ groups who are outraged by an attack on the core democratic principle that every person’s vote should count equally. They battle party operatives and an entrenched political establishment to fix a broken system.
While the film primarily discusses gerrymandering efforts by a specific party, all political parties and groups have been guilty of gerrymandering. The film illustrates the need for changes in how redistricting is done now to prevent gerrymandering in the future.
Panelists
Nick Harper
Nick is the Civic Engagement Director for LWV Minnesota. During the summer and fall, Nick helps local LWVs provide voter services in collaboration with community partners. During the winter and spring, he serves as the staff lead for state advocacy. Nick is also the LWVMN lead for legislative strategy.
His policy interests cover all aspects of political activity and civic engagement, including legislative process, money in politics, voting rights, redistricting, and other election law. He holds a B.A. in political science from Gustavus Adolphus College and a J.D. with public service honors from the University of Iowa College of Law. He is also a licensed attorney in Minnesota.
Betty Bengtson
Betty is a member of the LWV of Arizona Board and of the LWVAZ Advocacy Committee. She coordinates the People Powered Fair Maps™ campaign for the Arizona League. She also is a member of the Greater Tucson League and chairs its Advocacy Committee.
During her 33-year career as an academic librarian, Betty filled major roles at several university libraries and in various academic and professional associations. She is the Director Emerita of the University of Washington Libraries. Betty holds a Bachelor’s degree from Duke University and Master’s degrees from the Catholic University of American and the University of Maryland.
Dan Vicuña
Dan is the National Redistricting Manager for Common Cause. He conducts research and provides legal, communications, and coalition support for Common Cause state organizations in their campaigns to implement redistricting reform. On the litigation front, he manages Common Cause and ally amicus briefs for cases seeking to protect citizen-centered redistricting reforms, advance constitutional challenges to partisan gerrymandering, and other redistricting cases.
Before joining Common Cause, Dan was a staff attorney and Campus Vote Project coordinator at the Fair Elections Legal Network, analyzed Supreme Court cases at Alliance for Justice, and worked in a New Hampshire congressional campaign and for the League of Conservation Voters. Dan has a law degree from American University and a B.A. in political science from UCLA.
Allison Riggs
Allison is the Interim Executive Director as well as the Chief Counsel, Voting Rights at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. She has litigated redistricting cases on behalf of State NAACP Conferences in Texas, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina. In 2018, she argued the Texas redistricting case in the United States Supreme Court, and in 2019, she argued the North Carolina partisan gerrymandering case in the Supreme Court.
Allison works closely with grassroots organizations and communities of color as they seek to advance their political and civil rights. She received her undergraduate, Master’s Degree and J.D. from the University of Florida.
Co-Sponsors
Questions?
Contact Paul Huffman, LWVMN Census and Redistricting Coordinator, at phuffman@lwvmn.org.