Recent years have seen unprecedented controversies about election rules, including mail-in ballots and drop boxes, partisan and racial gerrymandering, early voting, ballot harvesting, and methods of vote counting. Because election laws have partisan consequences, the legislators who make election laws, the officials who administer elections, and the judges who decide election cases are often suspected of exercising power so as to increase their own side’s electoral chances. As we look ahead to future elections, this panel will consider what it means to have a fair election process and how much deference judges should pay to the determinations of officials whose actions in formulating and applying election laws may have partisan motivations.
Featuring:

Hon. Michael G. Adams, Secretary of State, Commonwealth of Kentucky
Prof. Richard Briffault, Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation, Columbia Law School
Prof. Michael R. Dimino, Professor of Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School
Prof. Richard H. Pildes, Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University School of Law
Hon. Bradley A. Smith, Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law, Capital University Law School; Former Commissioner, Federal Election Commission
Moderator: Hon. Thomas M. Hardiman, United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit