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.
December 7, 2023
Federal Judge Greenlights Lawsuit Challenging Virginia’s Permanent Felony Disenfranchisement Law
First-of-its-kind suit seeks to repeal discriminatory voting ban, alleging it violates a 150+ year-old Reconstruction Era law
March 18, 2024
The Shortlist: Seven Ways Platforms Can Prepare for the U.S. 2024 Election
Protect Democracy has produced four recommendations to inform preparations to safeguard the information ecosystem surrounding the U.S. general election.
March 12, 2024
The Shortlist: Messaging Platform Recommendations
These four recommendations will ensure messaging platforms are ready for global elections through 2024.
March 11, 2024
The Shortlist: Social Media Platform Recommendations
These four recommendations will ensure social media platforms are ready for global elections through 2024.
March 11, 2024
The Shortlist: Generative AI Platform Recommendations
These four recommendations will ensure generative AI platforms are ready for global elections through 2024.
March 11, 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
Arizona Supreme Court Rejects Kari Lake’s Appeal in Stephen Richer’s Defamation Lawsuit
On March 5, the Arizona Supreme Court rejected Kari Lake’s appeal in the defamation lawsuit filed against her by Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer.
March 5, 2024
The Constitutionality of the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965
We filed an amicus brief in Pennsylvania State Conference of the NAACP v. Secretary of the Commonwealth defending the constitutionality of 52 U.S.C. § 10101(a)(2)(B)’s “materiality provision."
February 26, 2024
Carter Center and Civic Leader Partners Commend New Ethics Guidelines for Election Officials
The Carter Center joins Election Reformers Network and Protect Democracy in commending the recently published ethics guidelines for election officials.
February 23, 2024
Mackey Amicus Brief: How the Second Circuit Can Safeguard the Right to Vote from Election Disinformation Without Violating the First Amendment
The decision in this case could have significant implications for the 2024 election and how we can hold those who attempt to use disinformation to disenfranchise voters accountable.
February 13, 2024