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 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, 2022, and 2024 elections from attempts to manipulate and subvert a free and fair result, and assisted in the passage of reforms to the Electoral Count Act.
Deceive, Disrupt, Deny in full effect
The last four months have seen the president's election interference strategy accelerate, even as resistance to that strategy has kept pace.
July 14, 2026
Protecting public safety and the integrity of U.S. elections from federal attacks
Protect Democracy and its partners are suing the Department of Homeland Security to challenge the agency’s new election-related conditions on anti-terrorism grants.
September 28, 2026
Challenging DHS’s field investigations into voter eligibility
The California Nurses Association and other groups filed suit against DHS challenging their practice of sending armed federal agents to Americans' homes to question their eligibility to vote.
September 21, 2026
Challenging the threatened use of ICE and federal law enforcement at polling locations
Nine organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging the administration's actions chilling the participation of voters of colors in the midterm elections.
September 18, 2026
Challenging the Trump administration’s threats to voting rights, privacy, and state authority over elections
We are suing the Trump administration over its unlawful efforts to compile American voters’ sensitive personal information into a massive centralized database.
September 1, 2026
Protecting voter privacy and the integrity of U.S. elections
Protect Democracy and co-counsel represent Common Cause and four individual voters in a lawsuit to stop the DOJ from building a national voter database.
June 11, 2026
Stopping the disenfranchisement of military and overseas voters in North Carolina
New state election rules, if applied post-hoc, would presumptively eliminate votes cast in November 2024 for Supreme Court Seat Six.
April 14, 2025
Standing up against election lies: A former election official’s fight to clear her name in Virginia
Former election official Michele White has filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and former Assistant Attorney General Joshua N. Lief.
October 17, 2024
Defending the rights of eligible voters
Protect Democracy filed a lawsuit in 2024 to restore the rights of eligible voters in the state of Virginia.
October 7, 2024
Fighting permanent felony disenfranchisement in Tennessee
Protect Democracy, along with a team of attorneys from Arnold & Porter, are fighting to overturn Tennessee’s permanent felony disenfranchisement law.
March 6, 2024
Virginia Readmission Act litigation
In our lawsuit challenging Virginia’s racially-motivated felony disenfranchisement law, a federal court paved the way for hundreds of thousands of Virginians to have their voting rights restored.
June 26, 2023