Election Law & Voting Rights

Kastorf Law, a litigation boutique in Atlanta, GA and Washington, D.C., represents nonprofits, candidates, and political parties in election-related litigation, particularly actions to protect voting rights. Kastorf Law works both locally in Georgia and nationally. If you need assistance, learn how to contact Kastorf law.

Why should you hire Kastorf Law?

Are you in the right place? Kastorf Law has significant experience in election law and voting rights. But what matters to you is if the firm is right for your matter. Call Kastorf Law if you are in one of the following situations:

• You are a political candidate projecting to be involved in a close election, and need plans in place, both to ensure that every vote is counted, and what to do if the results are in dispute on election day. 
• You manage a campaign for political office and believe that the manner in which the government is enforcing the election laws or campaign finance laws is unfair and damaging your candidate.
• A government agency is threatening an enforcement action against you for violations of election laws or campaign finance laws.
• You are a voter or nonprofit that believes that the government (or a political party) is making it difficult for citizens to vote, and you have the resources and the will to demand change.
• You are a voter who believes the government is infringing on your right to express your political opinions.
• You are a candidate, party, or non-profit who has an attorney who helps with your compliance work, but you’re concerned that a particular issue will result in a lawsuit or enforcement action, and need a litigator. 
• A matter has suddenly become more complicated or now raises difficult questions of Constitutional or statutory law, jurisdictional issues, or other complex legal matters, and you want a legal specialist in the room.
• You are entitled to money damages or legal fees for an election dispute, and need an attorney who has experience working on a contingency fee basis.
• Your case is now on appeal.

What does Kastorf Law know about election law & voting rights?

Kurt Kastorf has been involved in election law, campaign finance, and voting rights for as long as he has been eligible to vote. In college, he founded a chapter of Common Cause. Before graduating law school, Kurt became a Board Member of the ACLU of Georgia, and was part of a legal team that persuaded a trial court to set aside a discriminatory ballot measure as violating the “single subject rule.” Kurt would go on to author one of the authoritative works on single subject rules, and has been published in Help America Vote!, the American Bar Association’s treatise on voting rights.  Kurt has provided guidance to an array of candidates and non-profits, from household names like Hillary Clinton and Stacey Abrams, to candidates for local office. Voting rights strategies he has helped to engineer have been called “incredibly smart.”

What are some examples of the firm’s prior experience in election litigation and voting rights?

Some of Kurt’s prior work includes:

• Managing the Democratic Party of Georgia’s election day voter protection litigation in Georgia, including helping to obtain court orders keeping dozens of polls open in the 2018 Gubernatorial election, 2020 General Election, and January 2021 run-off election.
• Assisting Joe Biden for President on post-election litigation issues relating to the 2020 Election.
• Representing a candidate for Georgia statewide office in an investigation by the Secretary of State into alleged ballot irregularities in his race.
• Serving as counsel to Stacey Abrams in post-election litigation related to her 2018 bid for Governor of Georgia. 
• Representing Hillary for America in both pre-election challenges to ensure ballot access and election day litigation to obtain emergency relief for voting irregularities. Kurt’s work in Clinton’s litigation boiler room helped get polling hours extended to address long lines in multiple states.
• Filing a major federal lawsuit on behalf of multiple non-profits seeking to fix Georgia’s broken voting system. Slate Magazine described this lawsuit as “incredibly smart.”
• Obtaining both a temporary and permanent injunction in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia requiring Dougherty County to count late-received absentee ballots after Hurricane Michael delayed the delivery of absentee ballots to voters.
• Winning emergency relief in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia requiring counties across Georgia to properly count absentee ballots with minor discrepancies, in accordance with Federal law.
• Obtained a temporary restraining order on election day in Gwinnett County Superior Court keeping polling locations open later after those locations experienced various irregularities and long lines, and the county provided voters with inaccurate information regarding their right to vote provisionally.
• Successfully obtaining a dismissal on jurisdictional grounds of a challenge to an individual’s candidacy for local office in Georgia.
• Guiding a non-profit group through an enforcement action relating to alleged campaign finance violations.
• Helping prepare appellees for oral argument in Rucho v. Common Cause, a case challenging the constitutionality of extreme partisan gerrymandering.
• Halting a threatened enforcement action against an individual citizen for her controversial political speech.

Does Kastorf Law represent members of only one political party in election litigation?

No. Kastorf Law represents candidates, parties, non-profits, and voters of all political stripes, provided they have a colorable claim and would benefit from Kastorf Law’s political expertise. While many of Kastorf Law’s clients identify as Democrats, the firm’s representation is not so limited.

Kastorf Law does, however, generally represents clients that wish to fight disenfranchisement, engage in political speech, and get people’s votes counted. If your primary goal is to reduce voter participation or discourage political advocacy, the firm is unlikely to be the best choice for your matter.

Read more about Kastorf Law’s election law and voting rights practice:

• Kastorf Law obtains dismissal of candidate challenge. Kastorf Law persuaded an Administrative Law Judge to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds a challenge to a political candidate’s qualifications brought prior to the election. Read more here.
• Kastorf Law defeats subpoena against nonprofit organization. Kastorf Law helped persuade the Superior Court of Fulton County to dismiss an effort to enforce a subpoena against a non-profit census organization. Read more here.
• Is partisan gerrymandering constitutional? Kurt helped prepare Common Cause and League of Women Voters to argue the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering before the Supreme Court of the United States. Read more here.
• Kurt Kastorf testifies for Fair Fight on election reform bill. Read Kurt’s testimony before the Georgia Senate on H.B. 316, a flawed election reform bill.
• Federal Court rules absentee ballots must be counted. Kurt obtained an emergency injunction ensuring that eligible voters in Dougherty County could have their votes counted in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Read more here.
• Kurt Kastorf published in America Votes! Read Kurt Kastorf’s chapter on the Shelby County decision in America Votes! Challenges to Modern Election Law and Voting Rights, Fourth Edition.