Nationally recognized election law scholar Derek T. Muller, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame Law School, has joined CNN as a contributor for the 2024 election cycle to provide his perspective and context to the network’s coverage of the presidential race.

Muller’s scholarship focuses on the role of states in the administration of federal elections, the constitutional contours of voting rights and election administration, the limits of judicial power in the domain of elections and the Electoral College. His recent research has examined election subversion and how courts can prevent state officials from undermining election results, and reducing election litigation, which identifies the explosion in spending in election-related litigation in the last decade and what can be done to reduce it.

“Derek’s selection by CNN as an election law contributor underscores the vital role that scholars play as public intellectuals,” said G. Marcus Cole, the Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. “His expertise will help illuminate the complexities of election law for the public, providing objective analysis that is essential in a time when informed discourse is more important than ever.”

Muller has been interviewed by CNN’s Laura Coates and Jim Acosta in the aftermath of eligibility decisions that kept former President Donald Trump’s name off the ballot during the 2024 presidential primaries. He was quoted by John Fritze and Marshall Cohen about how courts or Congress might handle challenges to Trump’s eligibility. And he has spoken with Tierney Sneed about potential legal issues after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection.

Muller testified before the United States Senate in support of the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, a law that was enacted in 2022. The law reduces ambiguities in language, gives clear deadlines for resolving election disputes and makes it harder for Congress to challenge the outcome of presidential elections. Muller described how the act will work in commentary at The Conversation. The new law will play a crucial role this year when electors meet to cast their votes on December 17 and when Congress convenes to count votes on January 6, 2025.

A member of the American Law Institute, Muller is the co-reporter on a new Restatement of the Law, Election Litigation. He has published extensively, and his op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. Muller has testified before Congress and is a regular contributor at the Election Law Blog and The Conversation.

Established in 1869, Notre Dame Law School is the oldest Catholic law school in the United States. The Law School’s approach to legal education is informed and inspired by faith. Students are trained to view the law as a vocation in service to others, to explore the moral and ethical dimensions of the law, and to discover their unique roles in furthering the cause of justice.

Contact: Derek T. Muller, dmuller@nd.edu