Meet an Alumnus: Robert Brandon

Robert M. Brandon, JD '72
President and Co-Founder, Fair Elections Legal Network

Robert "Bob" Brandon chose to attend GW Law School to study law at the center of government and politics in Washington, D.C., with the hope of making a big impact in public interest work.

After graduation, Bob worked for several years at Public Citizen, a consumer rights advocacy group, and Citizen Action, a consumer and public activist organization.  Through his public policy work, Bob came to understand how election administration can shape policy at national and local levels. 

In 2006, he decided to co-found Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN), a nonpartisan advocacy organization focused on improving election administration and removing barriers to voting.  As the current president of FELN, Bob and his team provide outside counsel to organizations and election lawyers focused on protecting voting rights for constituencies that often experience problems in registration and voting.  FELN also identifies laws and regulations that impose barriers to a fair election process and works to educate the public on these important issues.

Under Bob’s leadership, FELN has been very successful.  FELN has worked to protect student voting rights by working with student organizations and college administrators to provide trainings, materials, and legal analysis so that colleges and universities can encourage students to register and vote.  FELN also defends voting rights through litigation.  Recently, FELN helped block a Missouri ballot initiative that would have amended the state constitution to include a strict voter ID measure.  Additionally, FELN monitors state regulations and procedures that may prevent citizens from exercising their right to vote.  For example, FELN challenged the Secretaries of State in New Mexico and Florida over improper procedures that misidentified thousands of registered voters as non-citizens and could have led to improper purging from the voter rolls.  FELN has also successfully challenged interstate data matching programs that could have led to widespread voter purges in violation of the National Voter Registration Act. 

In addition to being President of FELN, Bob also manages Robert Brandon & Associates, which focuses on various public interest issues.  Bob credits GW Law’s strategic location and the opportunities the school provided to him for his successful career in the public interest field.  He believes that his education at GW Law and his work in Washington, D.C. provided him with the platform and resources to help reform election laws and regulations throughout the country.

—Written by Max Etin (JD candidate ’15)

In the News

November 14, 2012 
Information Critical to Turning Out the Student Vote 
The Huffington Post

November 7, 2012 
Voting Made Easier: Turning Mail Boxes Into Ballot Boxes 
Bloomberg

November 1, 2012
Early Voting for the Nov. 6 Election Has Begun in Marin 
Twin City Times

October 29, 2012
The Voter-Fraud Myth
The New Yorker

February 9, 2012
Project Seeks to Help Students Overcome Barriers to Voting 
The Chronicle of Higher Education

January 6, 2012
Election Officers Who Block the Vote 
Politico