Election Law Program
A Joint Project of the College of William & Mary and the National Center for State Courts
The functioning of the U.S. electoral process often 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 College of William & Mary, the Election Law Program seeks to provide practical assistance to state court judges called upon to resolve difficult election law disputes. In 2008, the Program published a Manual for judges that discusses and analyzes election law issues and the judicial relief available for election law violations. The Program also produced a series of web-based lectures (see here) designed to educate judges and journalists about the fundamentals of election law.
Last spring, the Program hosted a symposium on "Campaigning in the Courts" with Bob Bauer, Ben Ginsberg and others on March 20, 2009. For information about the event, please see the ELP News & Activities page.
During the 2009-2010 academic year, the Program will start a project on judicial orders in election law cases, hold a symposium in the spring (please check back later in the semester for details), update the Election Law Manual, and work with the Election Law Society to plan events for students at William & Mary interested in election law.
