Officials are legally obligated to do it, and there is no discretion involved.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  
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Brennan Center for Justice
 
 
As Americans gear up for a tightly contested battle for the House, gerrymandering looms large. A new Brennan Center analysis shows how skewed district maps are set to hand Republicans a 16-seat advantage going into November. While some states, including Ohio, are pushing for solutions to make redistricting more fair and representative of the electorate, federal action is needed. Passing the Freedom to Vote Act would go a long way toward ending extreme gerrymandering nationwide.
Vote counting is a cornerstone of democracy, yet recent years have seen alarming attempts to undermine this process. Since 2020, election deniers have pressured local officials to withhold certification of results without any evidence of impropriety. Crucially, certification is not optional — election officials are legally obligated to certify results. As new Brennan Center resources detail, there are numerous checks in place to ensure the integrity of the election outcome before it’s time for certification, and refusing to certify is nothing more than a partisan power play.
Project 2025 poses a serious threat to civil rights by aiming to misuse laws intended to protect voting rights. The controversial conservative agenda includes plans to prosecute election officials for helping voters and undermine the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. By twisting a law meant to safeguard voting rights to target those who facilitate voting, Project 2025 risks chilling the crucial work of election officials, making it harder for all citizens to exercise their fundamental right to vote.
This fall, voters in more than half the country will face obstacles to voting that they have never encountered in a presidential election before. The latest edition of our Voting Laws Roundup details state-level changes in voting and election legislation since May and since the last presidential election in 2020. One of the most striking findings: while 29 states will have new restrictions on voting in place this fall, 41 states and DC will have new laws that expand voting access.
The FBI’s latest report on crime in 2023 confirms that crime is declining across the board. The official data aligns with the findings of many independent experts. Notably, violent crime continued to drop last year, with a record-breaking decline in murders. Our analysis delves into the key findings of the FBI’s report and addresses baseless attempts to sow doubt in the data.
When violent crime surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, many blamed bail reform, but a recent Brennan Center study finds no evidence connecting the two. Critics often misunderstand how these reforms work, believing that the changes let offenders evade accountability or freely endanger the public. In reality, bail reform seeks to address an unjust system that disproportionately affects Latino and Black communities by ensuring that people aren’t jailed simply due to their inability to pay.
Members of the House recently advanced a bill to revive a rebranded version of the China Initiative, a misguided Trump-era policy. While it was ostensibly designed to fight economic espionage, the program instead targeted U.S.-based scientists and technologists of Chinese descent, stifling domestic innovation in the process. Restarting this failed initiative risks undermining national security interests and putting the country further behind in the global race for scientific and technological advancement.

 
PODCAST: Solutions for a Threatened Democracy
Our latest episode is about protecting election integrity in the face of disinformation campaigns and voter intimidation. An expert panel includes the editors of the new book Our Nation at Risk, which examines how these antidemocratic actions pose a serious threat to national security. They discuss concrete solutions on how to fortify our election system and bolster confidence in the fairness of the democratic process. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform.

 
BRENNAN CENTER ON SOCIAL MEDIA
There’s a reason why some politicians are pushing the lie that noncitizens are voting in our elections: They want you to believe that the system is full of fraud. That way, if they lose, they can use that falsehood to question election results. Learn more >>

 
Virtual Events
 
The Fight Against Originalism Continues
Wednesday, October 2, 1–2 p.m. ET
In its last term, the Supreme Court undermined the federal government’s power to solve problems and the public’s ability to hold their political leaders accountable. Meanwhile, in lower courts around the country, judges are dealing with a deluge of cases under the Court’s new history-based rules about abortion, guns, and affirmative action. Where does the fight against originalism stand now, and what’s in store? Join us for a live virtual event as leading historians and Brennan Center experts delve into some of the Court’s most significant recent rulings, how they will shape upcoming legal debates, and how the Court’s originalist opinions are affecting Americans’ lives. RSVP today
 
 
VIRTUAL EVENT: Latinos and the Far Right
Thursday, October 10, 3–4 p.m. ET
A white supremacist of color seems like a contradiction. Yet recent years have brought to light unsettling examples, including an Afro-Latino leader of the Proud Boys and a Latino mass shooter with neo-Nazi sympathies. These men are among a small but growing number of Latinos who gravitate toward the far right and adopt radical views on race, Christian nationalism, and immigration. Join us for this virtual discussion about the complexities of the Latino community, which is growing in importance with each election. RSVP today
 
Produced in partnership with Brennan en español

 
 
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