What will Kentucky Book Festival visitors find on your table?
My latest book is titled The Court v. The Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights. It offers an urgent and gripping look at the erosion of voting rights and its implications for democracy, told through the stories of 9 Supreme Court decisions—and the next looming case. Kirkus Reviews says the book is “A solid argument for judicial reform—and if not that, bypassing the Supreme Court whenever possible” and Publisher’s Weekly says “[A] full-throated critique . . . This granular analysis, though somewhat speculative since it relies on reading between the lines, adds up to a shockingly convincing explanation of the Court’s motives. Douglas brings the receipts.”
Readers will also find my 2019 book, Vote for US: How to Take Back Our Elections and Change the Future of Voting. The book presents an encouraging assessment of current efforts to make our voting system more accessible, reliable, and effective. NY Times reporter David Leonhardt said that the book “explains how activists around the country are winning fights to make democracy work better. Thanks to their efforts, the state of voting rights is improving in many places, [Douglas] argues. I think he’s right.”
Whom do you invite to stop by? Who will benefit from reading your book?
Anyone who is interested in democracy, voting rights, and elections should be interested in my books. They are written in easy-to-understand narratives that focus on stories. One online review said that The Court v. The Voters is “unlike a lot of books about law, [because] it avoids legal jargon and explains things in a way a
non-lawyer can easily understand.” Another review said, “It’s a good read for anyone who is interested in democracy, voting, and what George Washington called ‘the last great experiment for promoting human happiness.'”
Could you please tell us something curious about you and/or your book?
I interviewed a lot of the people behind major Supreme Court cases on voting rights for this book. My favorite was my interview with Alan Burdick, who my research assistant tracked down in Hawaii, to discuss the case he brought that went to the Supreme Court in 1992 and which has had a major impact on elections to this day.
Some interesting things about me: I’m a dad of two great kids, a huge baseball fan, and I love tacos.
Is this your first time participating in Kentucky Book Festival? If yes – what are you looking forward to the most? If you’ve participated before – what was your favorite experience at the Festival?
I participated in the Kentucky Book Festival 2019. The greatest part of the festival was meeting people who had heard about me or the book and wanted to learn more. I’m looking forward to meeting additional readers. I write these books to help everyday voters understand how our election system works and help them engage in democracy. As Abraham Lincoln said, in a quote that opens my new book, “Elections belong to the people.”
