Faith and the Gerrymander: Conversation with Emma Olson Sharkey

Emma Olson Sharkey visits with Faithful Disruption host Trista Soendker Nicholson about the way congressional and other voting districts are changing to increase political power for some and disenfranchise others.

Sharkey is a partner at Elias Law Group. She focuses her practice on nonprofit tax and campaign finance law, and legal issues related to ballot measures. Emma advises clients participating in political and issue advocacy across the country, including progressive ballot measure campaigns, political campaigns, and nonprofit organizations. She helps clients understand the law, anticipate challenges, and mitigate legal risk.

Emma is one of the nation’s leading ballot measure attorneys, counseling clients on how to effectively engage in measures across the country. She routinely defends clients engaged in ballot measure activity before state agencies and advises on ballot measure litigation strategy. She has served as outside counsel to progressive ballot measure efforts in more than 15 states, most recently focusing on campaigns that seek to protect the ballot measure process.

Emma regularly speaks and writes about ballot measures, most recently in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Salon, NBC News, Slate, CBS News Radio, The Hill, Democracy Docket, the Columbia Journalism Review, Pluribus, and Common Dreams. Her research has also been cited by TIME Magazine. (from law firm page https://elias.law/bio/emma-olson-sharkey/)