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The Conversation
The Conversation
Politics
Derek T. Muller, Professor of Law, University of Iowa

I'm an election law expert who ran a polling station this election – here's what I learned about the powerful role of local officials in applying the law fairly

Local residents wait in line to receive their ballots before casting their vote, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in West Des Moines, Iowa. AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

Derek Muller is a nationally recognized expert in election law at the University of Iowa College of Law, where he studies and teaches about the role of states in the administration of federal elections. In late October he submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on a case that could drastically reshape U.S. elections, addressing the independent state legislature theory. But Muller doesn’t just understand election law from an ivory tower perch. On Election Day, he was a precinct chair in Iowa City, running a polling station inside the University of Iowa. The Conversation U.S. asked him to reflect on what it’s like to be both a election law scholar and an election worker.

You occupy a pretty high place in the world of election law scholars. But here you are, participating at the most basic level in an election and in our democracy.

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