John,

Ignore the pundits. Here’s the most important takeaway from this week’s elections: Americans still believe in democracy, and we’re willing to show up to protect it.

Across the country, Common Cause members and volunteers powered fair, safe, and accessible elections — helping voters, supporting election workers, and defending the freedom to vote.

None of this happened by chance. It happened because people like you put in the work to make democracy stronger.

Now, as we turn toward the 2026 midterms, we’re carrying that same energy forward. Our Election Protection program is expanding in every state to train even more volunteers, monitor every ballot cast, and ensure every voter can make their voice heard.

Here’s a bit of what we accomplished together this election cycle:

In Pennsylvania, we coordinated with coalition partners statewide, countered misinformation through the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline, and helped safeguard critical Supreme Court retention elections to keep the courts independent and voters informed.
In Michigan, we fought new voting barriers — from proof-of-citizenship proposals to federal interference — while championing the Michigan Voting Rights Act and other pro-voter reforms.
In Colorado, we rolled out the new Colorado Voting Rights Act (which we built and spearheaded!) and are working with the Colorado Attorney General and Secretary of State to plan our 2026 voter protection efforts.
In New York, our team led the Let NY Vote coalition’s Election Protection program — recruiting and deploying hundreds of volunteers at key polling places, including fielding volunteers with fluency in multiple languages, including Spanish, Bangla, Urdu, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic, as well as running year-round education programs on Ranked Choice Voting.
In Texas, our team mobilized volunteers to assist voters across the state while also hosting events to educate the public on the seventeen constitutional amendments on their ballots.
In New Mexico, our team fielded and triaged calls on the voter hotline on Election Day. We expanded our statewide coalition and education efforts, and community organizations knew to reach out to CCNM if their supporters faced issues while voting.
In Ohio, we operated a year-round Election Protection program to educate voters affected by restrictive ID laws, monitor election certification, and defend against new anti-voter initiatives.
In Maryland, we co-led the Voting in Jail initiative, visiting all state prisons, numerous local jails, and supporting partner outreach at probation and parole offices — making sure incarcerated voters and returning citizens could cast ballots and that every eligible Marylander’s voice was heard.
In Georgia, we fought legislative attacks on voting rights and organized volunteers to give public testimony, monitor local election boards, block bad roll purges, and report threats to voter access across the state.
In California, we led a dynamic coalition across Southern California — working to expand language access so voters received election information in the language they speak and ensuring poll monitors were trained and ready in every major county.
In Florida, we operated a multilingual poll monitoring program in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole — and led the charge for a “disaster-affected voter bill of rights” to ensure that no one lost access to the ballot after hurricanes.
In Massachusetts, we co-led the statewide Election Protection coalition and fought to pass Same Day Registration — breaking down barriers that kept eligible voters from participating and ensuring that every Bay Stater had an equal say.
In Arizona, our team led a coalition to ensure every voter could cast a ballot while pushing back against election deniers who refused to certify results.
In Minnesota, as targeted voter suppression and intimidation intensified, we worked closely with community leaders to provide critical backend support in coordination with the national Election Protection hotline, election officials and lead election judges at polling places to ensure Minnesota voters who needed assistance or had questions were able to cast their ballots.

Even in tough times, hope isn’t something we wait for — it’s something we build, one volunteer, one polling place, and one voter at a time.

Thank you for being part of this movement. Together, we’ll protect every vote and every voice heading into 2026.

Onward,

— The team at Common Cause

P.S. Our Election Protection program is powered by people like you. If you can, please chip in today to help train more volunteers and expand our work in Pennsylvania >>