by Jacob Derr, Editor
President Obama took the first step yesterday to address election deficiencies by appointing two top election attorneys on opposite sides of the aisle to chair a Presidential Commission on Election Administration: Bob Bauer and Ben Ginsberg. Both are wise picks. Bauer served as White House Counsel during the first Obama administration, and general counsel to Obama’s reelection campaign. Ginsberg, a prominent Bush attorney during the historic 2000 election, ran Romney’s legal team in 2012.
Bauer and Ginsberg are no strangers to William & Mary Law. Both Bauer and Ginsberg sit on the Advisory Board to the Election Law Program (a joint program of William & Mary Law School and the National Center for State Courts). In 2009 the pair traveled to Williamsburg for William & Mary’s Third Annual Election Law Symposium, “Campaigning in the Courts: The Rise of Election Litigation.” The symposium examined the rising tide of litigation as a central campaign strategy. In conjunction with the symposium, Bauer and Ginsberg also filmed a web lecture entitled “A View from the Trenches: Advice for Judges Handling Election Related Lawsuits” for the Election Law Program website electionlawissues.org. Moderated by William & Mary Law School Dean Davison Douglas, the discussion focuses on trends in election litigation since Bush v. Gore. In addition, Bauer will travel again to William & Mary Law to participate in our 7th Annual Election Law Symposium on February 21st which will address Election Day delays. For more information see here.
William & Mary’s Election Law Program, a joint project of William & Mary and the National Center for State Courts, is proud of its connection to Bauer and Ginsberg, and the many other outstanding luminaries from the election law field who speak and teach at William & Mary.
See, “A View from the Trenches”: http://www.electionlawissues.org/Video-Modules/View-from-the-Trenches.aspx