Election officials have endured relentless attacks since 2020 from election deniers intent on eroding trust in American democracy. Now, a new challenge looms: the radical conservative policy agenda produced by the Heritage Foundation. Project 2025 threatens to escalate these assaults by cutting federal support and weaponizing federal agencies against election officials. As these essential workers confront mounting antidemocratic threats from bad actors at home and abroad, they need more backing than ever to ensure the integrity of our elections.

The Heritage Foundation’s efforts to undermine election integrity extend beyond Project 2025. After years of spreading election disinformation, the group has now resorted to fabricating bogus proof of voter fraud. In a series of secretly recorded videos, Heritage falsely portrays deceptive interactions with suspected noncitizens as evidence of illegal voting. The lie that noncitizens vote in U.S. elections — which has been repeatedly disproven — only serves to stoke unwarranted fears and harm our democracy.

Larry Householder, the former Ohio House speaker, is challenging his bribery conviction by arguing that accepting bribes is constitutionally protected as free speech. This claim, made in an attempt to overturn his conviction for taking more than $60 million to push a corporate bailout through the Ohio legislature, is unlikely to succeed. Despite the Supreme Court’s past rulings eroding campaign finance laws, courts should stand by the principle that clear-cut quid pro quo corruption has never been protected by the First Amendment.

Ohio’s contentious 2020 redistricting process left voters with unfair district maps and few options to remedy them. Frustrated with this outcome, many Ohioans are rallying behind a November ballot initiative that would put citizens rather than politicians in charge of drawing district lines. If approved, the amendment would put an end to the state’s long legacy of gerrymandering.

Tech and cryptocurrency money have driven up political spending and amplified the influence of wealthy donors on elections. Prominent figures like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel are using their financial clout to back candidates who align with their special interests, which often run counter to the public good. The Freedom to Vote Act proposes reforms that would loosen big money’s grip on elections and help ensure that ordinary Americans are fairly represented in the policymaking process.

Part of why megadonors hold such sway over policymaking is because the pressure to fundraise persists even after candidates are elected to Congress. A Brennan Center analysis shows that senators and representatives must raise substantial amounts of money to gain and maintain political power on Capitol Hill. This money-dominated system incentivizes lawmakers to prioritize fundraising over their legislative duties, doing a disservice to elected officials and the American public they are supposed to serve.