In 2011, the Deer Creek Foundation generously awarded the Election Law Program a grant to run Election Law "War Games" at three state judicial conferences. The first war game was held on May 16, 2012 in Norfolk, Virginia; the second was held in Vail, Colorado on September 11, 2012; and the third was held in Neenah, Wisconsin on December 7, 2012. The goals of the war games are twofold: to troubleshoot state election statutes and educate judges about the unique nature of election litigation. In the War Games pages, you will find videos and supporting materials (scenario overview, briefs, etc.) for each of the war games undertaken.
The hypothetical cases used for Election Law Program war games derive from teaching and scholarship conducted at William & Mary Law School with the assistance of Edward Foley at Moritz College of Law of the Ohio State University. None of the real world candidates named in these hypotheticals (or their actual attorneys or other representatives) were consulted on the content of these hypotheticals or are in any way responsible for them. The attorneys arguing each side of the hypothetical cases are doing so as part of the exercise and do not actually represent their hypothetical clients, although true to their commitment to professional norms—and to the spirit of this exercise—these attorneys argue zealously as if the named parties were in fact their clients.