Standing Committee on Election Law
A bipartisan committee of election law experts working to ensure smooth, secure, and equitable election administration at the federal, state, and local level.
The Power of your Philanthropy
Civic engagement is core to our democracy. Your gift today will ensure that electoral processes are protected and Americans have access to the ballot box.
ABA Election Center
The ABA has put together tools to help you register to vote, update your existing registration, locate your nearest polling place, and more.
Empowering Every Voter
Voter Education Webinar Series
The ABA Standing Committee on Election Law has partnered with the ABA Commission on Law and Aging on an eight part weekly webinar series designed to educate voters about the nuances and challenges of navigating the voting process along eight different issue areas.
Watch - HereHow A Ballot Becomes A Vote
The video from the ABA Senior Lawyers Division and the Standing Committee on Election Law follows an animated ballot through the voting and tabulation process. Among the steps along the way are voting machine testing & registration, in-person voting, recording the vote, vote-by-mail, tabulating, the canvas, and recounts and contests.
Civic Engagement
Poll Worker, Esq.
Civic engagement is at the very core of our democracy, make sure you have a say in your government, and most importantly your life. It's as easy as: 1) REGISTER to vote, 2) VOTE, and 3) WORK at the polls. Visit our #pollworkeresq website to learn how to help run the elections in your area!
Learn - MoreWhat Judges Should Know About Election Law
This 90 minute webinar, recorded on October 23, 2024, featured an expert panel of three judges who discussed their experiences adjudicating election-related litigation and what current judges can expect in this election cycle.
Why You Can Trust the Voting Machines
A video produced by the Standing Committee on Election Law detailing the mechanisms and machinery that make sure your vote is counted successfully and securely.
Election Law Policies
The American Bar Association is constantly working to enhance the integrity and public perception of the electoral process and toward that end, has adopted the following policies.
Current Litigation
The Standing Committee on Election Law is pleased to provide you with a list of the recent cases litigating election procedures for the 2022 election and beyond.
Letter from the President on S. 4573
On November 29, 2022, ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross sent a letter to Senate leadership urging passage of S. 4573, the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, which seeks to update procedures for the counting and certification of electoral votes for the presidency under the Electoral Count Act (ECA) of 1887.
Lawyers Saving Democracy: The Roles Lawyers Can Play in the Election Process
This panel, organized by Standing Committee on Election Law Special Advisor William Kresse and Task Force for American Democracy Advisory Commission Member Juan Thomas, provided insight into the various roles attorneys can play in the election process. The panelists represented different types of organizations in the election space that attorneys viewing this program will also have in their local communities. Recorded at the Chicago Board of Elections Supersite on August 1, 2024, as part of the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting.
The Struggle for Native American Voting Rights: From 1924 to 2024
100 years ago, the Indian Citizenship declared that “all non-citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States.” But this sweeping declaration did not define the nature of that citizenship or indigenous communities relationship to it, especially regarding one of the fundamental rights a citizen possesses – the right to vote. Tribes would have to continue to fight for decades after the ICA’s passage to obtain that right, and even now face unique burdens on exercising the franchise. This joint program from the Standing Committee on Election Law and the Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress, conducted at the 2024 NLADA/ABA Equal Justice Conference in Detroit, Michigan, discusses the fight for voting rights from the ICA (and before it) to the Voting Rights Act, the present day barriers members of indigenous communities face in voting, and the state of litigation and legislative efforts to alleviate those barriers.
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Our Activities
Video: A Deeper Dive - On the Sidelines or Taking Sides
Standing Committee on Election Law Chair Jason Kaune joined Maritza T. Adonis and Bruce F. Freed to delve into the new pressures on corporations to engage with social movements and environmental, social, and governance criteria, extending the discussion of a CLE program at the ABA Business Law Section’s 2022 Hybrid Annual Meeting.
Watch - Here
About the Standing Committee on Election Law
Developing and examining ways to improve the Federal electoral process in order to permit the broadest, least restrictive access by Americans to the ballot box since 1973.