25 Years After Bush v. Gore: Contested Elections Then and Now Program

Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and The Carter Center will co-host their fifth annual elections conference, “25 Years After Bush v. Gore: Contested Elections Then and Now,” at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the landmark Bush v. Gore Supreme Court decision, the 2025 convening will examine the state of contested elections in the United States — then and now — through a series of timely, solutions-oriented discussions. 

Building on the Baker-Carter partnership and the legacy of the 2005 bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform, this year’s program draws from recent joint publications — “The Carter Baker Commission: 16 Years Later” (2021) and “Guiding Principles for Election Administration” (2024). These reports anchor two major conference sessions: one assessing the implementation challenges of the Guiding Principles, and another unpacking the evolving legal and political implications of redistricting in a polarized electoral landscape.

The opening panel will explore actionable strategies for safeguarding the integrity of U.S. elections, featuring insights from leading policy experts from the Bipartisan Policy Center, Issue One, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, and the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics. Over lunch, key legal voices — including Ben Ginsberg, a central figure in the Bush v. Gore litigation — will revisit the historic 2000 dispute, tracing its influence on public trust in election outcomes. The afternoon session will take a closer look at how recent redistricting decisions are reshaping electoral competition and representation heading into 2026. 

As confidence in democratic institutions faces mounting threats, this conference will offer a critical forum for reflection, debate, and the advancement of bipartisan solutions to strengthen electoral credibility in the years ahead.

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