Resources for Judges on Election Law and Litigation
The functioning of the U.S. electoral process increasingly comes down to resolving election law disputes in court. These election law cases are extraordinarily important to the democratic process, often concerning fundamental issues such as ballot access, accurate vote counts, and voter challenges.
Created in 2005 as a joint venture of the National Center for State Courts and the William & Mary Law School, the Election Law Program seeks to provide practical assistance to state court judges called upon to resolve difficult election law disputes. Resources include an Election Law Manual, a Judicial Orders Database, streamable webinars, a resource library, and an online database of state election laws and regulations.
The Program also hosts a symposium addressing a timely election law topic. Past symposia have featured an array of distinguished panelists discussing topics such as judicial campaign finance, redistricting, the role of secretaries of state in managing elections, and "campaigning in the courts" (a panel designed to examine the rising tide of election litigation and campaign strategy).
The Program’s recent work has been generously funded by the following institutional donors: the Democracy Fund, the Klarman Family Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Advisory Committee
Professor Robert F. Bauer
Professor of Practice and Distinguished Scholar in Residence
Co-Director of the Legislative and Regulatory Process Clinic
New York University School of Law
Pamela S. Karlan
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
Professor Doug Chapin
Director, Election Research
Fors Marsh Group
Dr. Caroline E. Kirkpatrick
Director of Educational Services, Office of the Executive Secretary
Supreme Court of Virginia
Judd Choate
Director, Division of Elections
Colorado Department of State
Judge Terry P. Lewis (Retired)
Florida 2nd Judicial Circuit Court
Benjamin L. Ginsberg (Retired)
Political Law Partner
Jones Day
Christy McCormick
Commissioner
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
Professor Richard L. Hasen
Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science
University of California, Irvine School of Law
Professor Aviel D. Rubin
Professor
Technical Director of the JHU Information Security Institute
Johns Hopkins University
Professor Samuel Issacharoff
Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law
New York University School of Law
John Hardin Young
Of Counsel
Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C.