Santa Clara University Ethics Debate Session Asks: Do We Have a Moral Obligation to Vote?

Business Wire, Sept 23, 2008

In the United States' electoral-college system, does any one individual have a moral obligation to vote? When no single vote will ever decide a national election, can you fault citizens who choose not to go to the polls on Election Day?

These questions and more will be the subject of a provocative Ethics at Noon open debate session Oct. 2 at Santa Clara University. The free one-hour session -- taking place just hours before the vice presidential debates Thursday evening -- is open to students, faculty and the public. It will be moderated by associate professor of philosophy Scott LaBarge, with participation from Judy Nadler, Senior Fellow in Government Ethics at the University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and former mayor of Santa Clara.

LaBarge has argued in class that voting can be viewed as a "gateway drug" that hopefully will lead individuals to get educated on the issues, care more about them, or become more politically active the other 364 days of the year.

"What was it the suffragists fought so hard for, if voting really means so little?" asks LaBarge.

Who has been invited to attend: Students and faculty of SCU; local government officials who have participated in the University's widely hailed Ethics Camp; local voting groups; media.

When: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 2.

Location: Santa Clara University

Kennedy Commons

Campus address: 500 El Camino Real

Santa Clara, CA 95053

Media interested in attending or following up with attendees can contact Deborah Lohse of SCU Media Relations at dlohse@scu.edu or 408-554-5121.