At its core, The American Law Institute’s mission is to strengthen and protect the rule of law. Most recognizably, we do this by bringing together members of the judiciary, academia, government, and practicing lawyers to produce Restatements, Principles, and Codes that support and reinforce the infrastructure of our common-law system. On some occasions, however, an issue calls for more urgent action. In such instances, the Institute has found a meaningful way outside of its formal project structure to support and offer guidance to legislatures, organizations, and individuals working on these important legal questions.
In our first such effort along these lines, ALI President David F. Levi and former Director Ricky Revesz convened a bipartisan group of 10 individuals with extensive experience in law and government to work together to find a consensus on proposals for reform of the Electoral Count Act. Chaired by Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith, the group released its recommendations in April 2022. The group’s proposals contributed significantly to the Electoral Count Act reform provisions that were enacted into law in December 2022.
More recently, President Levi and former Director Revesz helped bring together a bipartisan group of government officials, state and local election professionals, lawyers, and scholars in an effort to articulate a uniform set of ethical standards for election administration professionals. Charles Stewart of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bob Bauer of New York University School of Law, and Ben Ginsberg of the Hoover Institution led this very impressive working group. (Working group details can be found here.)
“Ethical Standards for Election Administration,” the group’s report, was released in January of this year. See page XX for the full press release. The report sets forth a set of seven core ethical principles for election administrators. It aspires to “identify[ ] the ethical standards unique to this profession, wherever it is practiced,” and “to transparently show the public that [election administrators’] actions are fair, professional, transparent.” As the report’s Executive Summary explains: “Assembling ethical guidelines for all jurisdictions at the state, county, and local levels offers many advantages. It provides a shared vocabulary to communicate to voters the moral basis for the conduct of elections, aids in training new officials by reinforcing the broader purpose of election administration as a profession, and helps internalize values to guide officials when facing external pressures or unclear election laws.”
I echo ALI President David Levi’s sincere appreciation to this group and the hard work that they did to bring together a document that has already been distributed to state and local election officials and is being considered by many as they take on the challenge of implementing ethical standards.
Although not officially products of The American Law Institute, these ventures exemplify the outstanding work that is accomplished when dedicated people come together to work toward a common goal.
This Director’s Letter was originally published in the Spring 2024 edition of The ALI Reporter.