A panel of four legal experts spoke at the Harvard Law School yesterday about the aftermath of the Florida election debacle and their approaches to solving the problems of minority voter disenfranchisement.

Under the moderation of Lani Guinier, a Harvard Law professor with a special interest in voting law, the panel discussed the problems that occurred in Florida during November's presidential election as well as the broader problems of alienation among minority voters on the national political level.

The panelists discussed the need for creative policy solutions that extend beyond merely replacing faulty macherinery.

"I think that the primary question is, 'How do we return democracy to the people,'" Guinier said.

"People are focusing on the wrong questions," said Heather Gerkin, assistant professor at Harvard Law School with a focus in election law. "They are considering incremental changes involving ballots and machinery and not talking about the issues of race."

Christopher Edley, Harvard Law professor and head of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' investigation into the Florida election, highlighted the abuses found by the commission.

The list included butterfly ballots that confused elder voters, last-minute relocations of ballot sites, sites without proper language assistance, voter restrictions which accidentally turned away non-felons as well as felons and ballot spoilage rates that were as high as 13 percent for some counties.

"In Florida, so many people dipping their toes in the voting process for possibly the first time found that it is not always a pleasant process," Edley said.