The Bipartisan American Election Project, led by former rivals Ben Ginsberg and Bob Bauer, has launched to oppose efforts to federalize state election administration. Its first move was filing amicus briefs in two lawsuits over DOJ requests for state voter rolls, arguing election oversight is a state responsibility. The group warns ongoing litigation involving 29 states plus D.C. is creating confusion in a midterm year and plans to expand its work to support state and local election officials.
Former Political Rivals Launch Bipartisan Project to Block Federal Takeover of Elections
A pair of former political adversaries have joined forces again to push back against efforts to expand federal control over state-run elections ahead of the midterm contests.
The newly formed Bipartisan American Election Project (BAEP), led by Republican lawyer Ben Ginsberg and Democrat Bob Bauer, aims to defend the nonpartisan administration of elections and challenge what the group calls federal encroachment into powers reserved to the states by the Constitution.
Ginsberg, a longtime adviser to the Republican National Committee and counsel to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and Mitt Romney, and Bauer, who served as White House counsel to President Barack Obama and has represented the Democratic National Committee, first worked together as co-chairs of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration more than a decade ago. That commission urged treating elections as a matter of nonpartisan public administration.
“The challenge to proper election administration has never been greater,” Ginsberg said. “The purpose of this project is to respond to the onslaught that courts have been under in a variety of unique cases challenging many of the bipartisan constitutional principles and the traditional ways of administering elections.”
The BAEP's initial action was to file amicus briefs in two active lawsuits challenging the Justice Department's attempts to obtain state voter registration lists. Those briefs, filed in suits brought against Georgia and Massachusetts, argue that the Constitution divides power between state and federal governments and that election administration is a state responsibility.
The group says the Justice Department's related litigation involving 29 states and the District of Columbia is creating confusion in an important midterm election year. Ginsberg and Bauer note the question of whether the federal government can compel states to hand over voter rolls may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court, but they argue it is important to present a strong, bipartisan legal counterpoint now.
“While the resolution of this case eventually may be down the road, the immediate impact is significant,” Bauer said. “Which is why it is crucial for the views we hope will prevail to be put as forcefully to the courts as possible.”
The BAEP includes several prominent election-law figures. Board members and advisers include Dana Remus, former Biden campaign counsel and White House lawyer; former U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli; Biden-Harris attorney John Devaney; longtime Republican litigator Michael Carvin; and former Bush administration official Daniel Troy.
Beyond the current litigation, Ginsberg and Bauer plan to expand the project to help state and local officials protect nonpartisan election administration and to provide legal support and public education efforts aimed at strengthening voter confidence.
Why it matters: The dispute touches on core questions about federalism, the proper role of the Justice Department in election oversight, and how to ensure public confidence in voting systems amid contested claims about nationalizing election rules.
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