Protected tens of thousands of voters from disfranchisement, intimidation, suppression, and election manipulation, and secured new precedents around the Ku Klux Klan Act and the Voting Rights Act.
Protecting Free & Fair Elections
Our Work
Without free, fair, and secure elections, voters have no voice, little control over the direction of the country, and few ways to correct course when things go awry.

Elections are the linchpin of our democracy. Holding elections, and ensuring that power changes hands in accordance with their outcomes, is the essence of democratic self-government. By defending them, we also protect our rights and our system of government.
This takes two steps. First, we defend the process of holding elections. We do so by making sure that election officials are allowed to do their work without interference, that election systems are secure, and that politicians are unable to dictate the outcome or manipulate election rules.
Second, we protect voters’ ability to participate meaningfully in the process, free from intimidation and harassment.
By ensuring that elections remain free, fair, and secure, we maintain our collective ability to shape the future of the country — or, when needed, to change course. In that, we protect voters’ trust in the results, even when their preferred candidates lose.
- Build secure, accessible, and accurate election systems and processes that are free from interference from foreign adversaries or domestic political actors.
- Create guardrails that ensure voters and candidates abide by the outcomes of every election.
- Foster public confidence in the fact that elections are free, fair, and secure.
Helped defend the 2020 and 2022 elections from attempts to manipulate and subvert a free and fair result, and assisted in the passage of reforms to the Electoral Count Act that will better protect the will of the voters and the transfer of presidential power.
SPOTLIGHT: Protecting Election Workers and why it matters SPOTLIGHT: Protecting Election Workers

A Democracy Crisis in the Making
How state legislators are politicizing, criminalizing, and interfering with election administrators.
June 8, 2023

Ruby Freeman and Wandrea’ ArShaye Moss Win Sweeping Victory, Default Judgment Against Rudy Giuliani
Judge orders a trial on the amount of damages take place some time between November 2023 and February 2024.
August 30, 2023

“It Takes All of Us”: A Playbook for Protecting the 2024 Election
Chris Crawford addresses The Parliament of the World’s Religions, outlining the role Americans of different political and religious beliefs can play in protecting democracy.
August 29, 2023

A Contingent Election, Explained
A contingent election is what happens if no one wins 270 electoral votes. The House selects a president & the Senate selects a vice president
August 22, 2023

What is the Big Lie?
The Big Lie is the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and that the Republicans who affirmed Biden’s victory were part of a conspiracy to defeat their own party’s president
August 15, 2023

What is election subversion?
Election subversion is any effort to change the rules to prevent the true election winner from taking office. It includes disinformation, voter intimidation & suppression, and election denialism.
August 14, 2023

NEW Protect Democracy Report — Democracy on Trial: The Role of Pennsylvania’s High Courts in 2024 and Beyond
A new report released today by Protect Democracy focuses on the stakes of Pennsylvania’s upcoming court elections for democracy in the US.
August 8, 2023

All eyes on Pennsylvania: Upcoming court elections will impact the 2024 election and beyond
This November, Pennsylvania voters will weigh in on statewide judicial vacancies of critical importance for future elections.
August 8, 2023

Protect Democracy Welcomes Reintroduction of Freedom to Vote Act
We applaud the ongoing commitment to these goals reflected in Freedom to Vote and in all the work being done to buttress the fundamental pillars of our democracy.
July 18, 2023

Free speech and voter intimidation after Counterman v. Colorado
How to defend Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act under the updated “true threats” exception to the First Amendment.
July 7, 2023

One quiet bipartisan way state legislatures are making election administration stronger
The growing movement to protect election officials through state legislatures has built momentum.
July 6, 2023