William & Mary Law School to Host 9th Annual Election Law Symposium

February 5, 2015

By The William & Mary Election Law Society

WILLIAMSBURG, VA – The Election Law Society and the Election Law Program at William & Mary Law School announce the Ninth Annual Election Law Symposium, which will take place on Thursday, February 26. Featuring prominent election attorneys, voting rights advocates, and a former Texas Solicitor General, the symposium addresses the topic “Pre-election Litigation: Judicial Influence Before Election Day” and evaluates the current state of pre-election litigation and the challenges courts face when hearing election litigation prior to an election.

Panelists scheduled to participate include Dale Ho, Director of the Voting Rights Project at the ACLU; Nicole Austin-Hillery, Director and Counsel for the Washington, D.C. office of the Brennan Center for Justice; Brian Svoboda, Partner in the Political Law practice at Perkins Coie; Jonathan Mitchell, former Solicitor General for the Texas Attorney General’s Office and current Searle Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Texas Law School; and William Consovoy, Partner at Consovoy McCarthy PLLC.

“Pre-election litigation took center-state during the 2014 election cycle” explained Election Law Society Symposium Co-Chair Jacob Kipp. “Our symposium focuses on the challenges courts face when confronted with litigation immediately prior to an election and the current climate of pre-election litigation following the Shelby County decision,” Kipp elaborated.

The event is set for February 26 at 3:30 PM at the William & Mary Law School in Room 124 with a reception to follow at 5:00 PM. The event is free and open to the public. This annual event is possible with generous assistance from the National Center for State Courts.

Created in 2005 as a joint venture of the National Center for State Courts and the Law School, the Election Law Program seeks to provide practical assistance to state court judges in the United States who are called upon to resolve difficult election law disputes (see Program materials available at www.electionlawissues.org). The Election Law Society is a student organization created to foster discussion and educate students about this rapidly expanding and extremely important area of legal practice.