The last month or so has given those of us in the pro-democracy space plenty of reasons to be concerned about what 2025 may bring. However, looking back on 2024, there were also a number of meaningful democracy-advancing victories that give me hope about the state of our union. In my last newsletter of the year, I would like to share just a few of these victories — and explain how they help shore up our system of self-government no matter what comes next.
Winning the fight for fair maps This year saw hard-fought progress in the fight for electoral maps that more fairly divide groups of voters by districts. This essential democracy reform empowers voters to choose candidates who represent them best. Campaign Legal Center’s longstanding partnership with anti-gerrymandering advocates in Wisconsin produced a big legal victory on this issue in 2023 in the state Supreme Court.
We saw the fruits of that victory for voters in the 2024 election results: In a state split down the middle politically,the balance of power in the state Senate and House shifted from a decade-long artificial partisan super-majority to something much closer to 50/50.
We saw a similar dynamic in North Dakota, where CLC was part of the legal team representing Native voters in their successful challenge of voting maps that prevented tribal communities from getting fair representation in state government. In a victory for voters in North Dakota, newly redrawn maps led to a more representative electoral outcome earlier this year. We will continue to partner with voters across the country to fight for fair maps, emphasizing independent redistricting commissions as the vehicle for achieving that goal.
Protecting voters and our elections This election cycle saw historic levels of litigation in the lead-up to the November election. Hundreds of court battles were fought over issues like vote-by-mail rules, laws designed to stifle nonpartisan voter registration activities, illegal voter roll purges and efforts to meddle with election certification rules. According to at least one analysis, the pro-voter side in these cases won much of the time.
Among many victories CLC secured for voters was a court order for our clients in New Mexico to smooth the path toward voting rights restoration for some 11,000 eligible voters in that state who had a past felony conviction. CLC also represented Alabama voters in a successful challenge to the secretary of state’s effort to purge thousands of legally registered voters from the rolls in the months leading up to Election Day.
The courts — notably the Supreme Court — did not always side with voters in 2024. However, throughout the election cycle, a pattern emerged of judges taking a skeptical view of challenges and laws that sought to make voting more difficult or needlessly delay the electoral process. One can only hope that this trend continues as CLC continues to litigate these issues in states across the nation.
Boosting trust in elections One of the more welcome findings in post-Election Day polling was a big increase in voters saying they trust the electoral process. It would be disingenuous to ignore that much of this increase came from those whose preferred candidate had just won the presidency. However, across the political spectrum, an overwhelming percentage of American voters are now expressing confidence in our elections.
It’s also undeniable that this election cycle saw a huge increase in attention paid to how our elections work and why voters should trust election officials to administer the process fairly. CLC recognized the need to push back on election disinformation in the wake of 2020. Our efforts over the last two years focused on working with state partners to amplify the voices of people who are trusted in their communities to explain the safeguards built into the electoral process.
I certainly hope this era of good feelings about our elections continues. However, at CLC we understand that bad actors who sow distrust in elections are often doing so as a pretense to enact anti-voter legislation or bring anti-voter lawsuits. We will remain vigilant and prepared to act when this occurs.
Bringing more transparency to election spending Transparency is one of the best antidotes available for the deluge of unlimited election spending, coming in the form of endless political ads. CLC got its start over 20 years ago with an initial focus on campaign finance reform, and we continue fighting for those reforms to this day.
Voters deserve to know who is spending money on ads aimed at convincing them to choose one candidate over another. In Arizona, CLC’s continuing successful defense of Proposition 211 this year brings that state one step closer to preserving a groundbreaking law that stops the biggest funders of election ads from hiding in the shadows.
A case in Washington State concerns a law that requires digital platforms to keep records of political advertising displayed on their sites. The Washington Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to that law in early December by Meta, the parent company of Facebook. CLC, along with our allies, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in that case that was cited in the ruling.
Giving democracy a fighting chance Our democracy is far from perfect, but we must fight to preserve what we have and advance improvements when we can. Without things like our constitutional system of checks and balances between the branches of government, free and fair elections so that voters remain in control, and respect for ethical norms, the American people would be much less well-served by their government than they are today.
CLC remains dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. In the aftermath of the 2024 election, this has included a vigorous effort to bring attention to the Trump transition’s numerous ethical failures and oversights. We also see significant challenges ahead if the Senate fails to exercise its constitutional advice and consent power over executive branch officials.
Of particular interest is the president-elect’s announced nominee to head the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, which is responsible for, among other things, enforcing voting rights laws. Trump loyalist Harmeet Dhillon has pressed false claims about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and has been involved in cases challenging voting rights laws, redistricting and other election-related issues. This track record seems to align with recent vows by the president-elect to press for election law changes that would almost certainly lead to voter suppression.
The lesson in all of this is we must continue to be engaged in the fight for democracy to have a chance of winning. Concerned citizens of all stripes fought to secure their rights in the lead-up to the November election. The victories I've described and more were made possible through the hard work of CLC’s staff, like-minded allies and supporters across the nation. We are working hard to carry on this mission in the new year and face the challenges of tomorrow.
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center is dedicated to advancing democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s rights to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process.
