The last chance to fix our elections

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This Saturday marks three years since an armed mob stormed the Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. We now know this was not just a crazed crowd egged on by a defeated candidate, but a part of an earnest if ham-fisted plot to overthrow American democracy.

How has our country responded? Reform often follows scandal — but not always. When National Guard troops still were bivouacking under the dome, Mitch McConnell called Donald Trump “practically and morally responsible” for the insurrection. The bipartisan January 6 congressional committee did extraordinary work to expose the facts. But Trump’s grip over his party has only strengthened. He now describes January 6 as a “beautiful day” and calls the criminals who participated in the attack “hostages.” Republicans chose the legal architect of the election denier movement to be speaker of the House.

So this upcoming election year requires us not only to ensure free and fair elections but to guarantee nothing like January 6 can happen again.

That demands legal accountability, of course. Fitfully that has started to happen, with the former president finally facing federal and state charges. We must strengthen guardrails, too. In 2022, Congress enacted a worthwhile update of the creaky Electoral Count Act, but there is more to do. And we must confidently advance a compelling plan for how to fortify American democracy.

There’s much, much more to be done to protect and strengthen our democracy in 2024.

Below you’ll find links to some of the Brennan Center’s most important work identifying the biggest threats to a safe and secure election, followed by clear-eyed and specific proposals to avert them. We offer guidance to state legislators, prosecutors, and members of Congress, who all have a major role to play in confronting election denial and election sabotage.

It’s not enough to “wave the bloody shirt,” as was said after the Civil War. In 2020, we didn’t see January 6 coming. Now if election deniers succeed in destroying the world’s oldest democracy, we will have nobody to blame but ourselves.

The Threats

Election Denial’s Second Wind

Even though election deniers were widely rejected in the 2022 midterms, they remain a real and growing threat to American democracy. Many of the tactics they deployed in the last election cycle — such as trying to win control of election administration, refusing to concede, and spreading disinformation — are already being recycled for the 2024 election. The good news is that we know how to combat these threats and strengthen our democratic systems. Read more

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Dangers to Election Officials

The lies of a stolen election in 2020 sparked a wave of violence against election officials, with a 2023 Brennan Center survey finding that 30 percent of local election officials had faced threats and abuse. Many in the field expect these dangers to persist, and 11 percent of officials said they would likely quit their jobs before the 2024 election. However, the results of the poll offer “some clues as to what can be done to staunch the bleeding and offer support where it is needed most, particularly to the field’s newest members,” Ruby Edlin and Lawrence Norden write. Read more

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The Solutions

Strengthen Election Security

Our election systems have become increasingly vulnerable to evolving foreign and domestic threats. From the heightened risk of cyberattacks to the ease with which artificial intelligence tools can be used to undermine voting rights and election outcomes, securing the upcoming election will be a challenge. Among other key measures, federal agencies must allocate more resources to bolster election security, and state legislatures will need to strengthen existing protections for voters, election workers, and election systems. “American democracy depends on it,” Derek Tisler and Lawrence Norden write. Read more

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Prosecute Election Saboteurs

After the failed coup attempt in 2020, many election officials worry that the risk of political interference still looms over our elections. Preventing future sabotage efforts requires accountability for those who violate laws prohibiting interference with election results. The prosecutions of former President Trump and others for attempting to overturn his 2020 defeat send a crucial message that no one is above the law. Read more

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Reform the Insurrection Act

In recent weeks, Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if reelected, which would let him use the military to quell public protests against him. A threat like this is entirely plausible given the overbroad, nearly unchecked powers offered by this dangerous law. “What’s needed is legislative reform that meaningfully guards against such abuse while preserving the ability to deploy troops in a true crisis,” Elizabeth Goitein and Joseph Nunn write. Read more

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Enact Freedom to Vote

National legislation would strengthen voting rights, promote fair elections, and drain the conspiracy theories of their power. Congress came achingly close in 2022. The Freedom to Vote Act and John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed the House and had majority support in the Senate but fell to a threatened filibuster. The measures would set national standards, implement automatic voter registration, ban gerrymandering, expose dark money in politics, and restore the nation’s most effective law against racial discrimination in voting. In 2024, voters must make sure that politicians pledge to prioritize these affirmative reforms. Read more

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News

Elizabeth Goitein on presidential powers // NEW YORK TIMES

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Ciara Torres-Spelliscy on the Colorado Supreme Court decision removing Trump from the primary ballot // STATE COURT REPORT

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Daniel Weiner on the Federal Election Commission’s new rules for candidate salaries // ROLL CALL

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