OUR HISTORY

Fair Elections Center was established in 2017 as a 501(c)(3) organization. The Center is affiliated with and began as the Fair Elections Legal Network which was established in 2006 by Washington D.C. public interest lawyer Bob Brandon and former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman. The organization grew out of a meeting on February 6, 2006 attended by over 60 voting rights and mobilization organizations and a number of pro bono election lawyers. The purpose of the meeting was to gauge support for creating a national network of pro bono election lawyers who could provide support for year-round, proactive election reforms at the state and local level and provide centralized staff to help organizations navigate the intricacies of the election laws in order to increase voter participation.

 

Fair Elections Center continues that work with its staff of attorneys and advocates, delivers nonpartisan creative solutions to the complex web of barriers that have been erected over time to prevent segments of our citizens from reaching their full American potential. Working alongside other national and state groups, the Center works to make the processes of voter registration, voting, and election administration as accessible as possible for every American, with a special focus on student and underrepresented voters. To this end, Fair Elections Center engages in a wide variety of advocacy efforts, including producing reports, talking points and fact sheets, providing state voter guides, providing testimony to legislatures, conducting trainings and seminars for organizations and their supporters, litigating voting rights cases in state and federal court, and working directly with local election officials and Secretaries of State to ensure that the right to vote is protected and expanded. We provide election law expertise to state-based civic engagement coalitions and direct help to organizations representing various constituencies that need help accessing the ballot as they plan their programs, encounter problems or need help engaging elections officials.