Your weekly source for analysis and insight from experts at the Brennan Center for Justice
The Briefing
No doubt, Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election had absurd elements. (The Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference? The Kraken?) It culminated, of course, in the deadly chaos of the Capitol insurrection. Now, the more we learn, the more we realize there was a concerted plan to steal the election and upend the results.
Next time it won’t be so amateurish. In fact, Trump’s allies are systematically removing obstacles to stealing elections in states across the country.
The Brennan Center published a report this week documenting the campaign. Two state legislatures have bestowed upon themselves the power to remove and replace local election officials with partisan operatives. Six states have passed laws threatening election officials with new or heightened criminal penalties. Three states have robbed election officials of the power to properly regulate partisan poll monitors in the polling place. Five states launched phony partisan reviews of last year’s election results led by biased actors who employed inadequate safeguards.
To the longstanding problem of vote suppression, add election sabotage.
Some state legislators are trying to go even further. How much further? In 2021, lawmakers in seven states — Arizona, Nevada, Missouri, Michigan, Texas, Idaho, and Oklahoma — introduced bills to give elected officials the power to overturn an election. Thankfully, none of those bills passed this time around, but their widespread consideration is itself alarming. The Arizona bill, which is among the most shocking to democratic sensibilities, reads: “The legislature may vote to reject or confirm the preliminary results of the election.” It garnered seven sponsors.
Just five years ago, the idea that politicians should have the power to overturn an election would have been unthinkable. Indeed, what is the point of voting if the politicians in power can simply wave away the result?
The alarming success of the election sabotage movement during the past year, along with the audaciousness of its leaders, should have Americans worried about the health of our democracy. It’s worth noting: legislatures come back for another swing of the bat in January. We haven’t hit bottom yet.
All this is one more powerful reason that federal legislative action is the only truly effective answer. The Freedom to Vote Act, currently pending in the Senate, would prevent most forms of election sabotage. It would protect local election officials from politically motivated reprisals. It would reverse state attempts to limit mail-in and absentee voting. It would establish limits on mass voter purges, and it would allow voters to correct ballot defects so that minor clerical errors won’t result in disqualification. If elected officials ever attempt to nullify results, the Freedom to Vote Act gives private citizens the right to sue for redress.
We cannot wait for the election sabotage movement to progress further. Anti-democracy advocates have made their intentions clear. It is time to repudiate them, and to stand up for democracy.

 
Fellows
Essays on Abortion Rights
On December 1, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case considering a Mississippi abortion ban that directly challenges the right to choose. In September, the Court allowed a Texas law that severely limits abortion access to go into effect. Produced by the Brennan Center and Ms. magazine, the “Abortion Rights Are Essential to Democracy” series responds to this fraught time for abortion rights, featuring 11 essays by Brennan Center staff members on key issue areas relating to abortion, highlighting injustices, personal experiences, and potential solutions. Read more

 
Democracy
Enforcing the Emoluments Clause
Last week, a group of senators led by Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act, which would enforce the Constitution’s Emoluments Clauses with clear standards to hold the president and other public officials accountable for violations. Throughout the country’s history, most officials have respected these requirements and took care to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. But a series of incidents during the Trump administration set off alarms on this key issue. “The Emoluments Clauses reflect a concern — dating back to the founding of our nation — that public officials, especially the president, must put the interests of the American people first,” Harry Rube writes. Read more
The Big Apple Meets Small Donor Public Financing
A week ago, New York City voters elected the most diverse, representative, and gender-balanced slate of city council members in its history, and the city’s robust small donor public financing option played a significant role in achieving this result. Gregory Clark, Hazel Millard, and Mariana Paez present the results of this reform as well as the potential for New York City to serve as a model for local, state, and federal elections. “Congressional public financing would help close the fundraising gap that persists for women, candidates of color, and especially women of color, and increase diversity on Capitol Hill as it has in City Hall,” they write. Read more

 
Constitution
A Disappointment on Sanctions
Last month, the Treasury Department released its long-awaited report reviewing U.S. sanctions regimes. Much to reform advocates’ dismay, the seven-page document stopped short of recommending an end to any existing sanctions framework or any concrete policy modifications. Elizabeth Goitein explains what’s in the report and discusses reforms that are missing. “Sanctions and military intervention are not the only choices on the table when dealing with foreign threats. And the reflexive reliance on sanctions both underestimates their costs and overestimates their benefits,” she writes. Read more

 
Justice
Prisons Need Independent Oversight
Prisons are fundamentally secretive institutions, with many of the worst systemic abuses — preventable deaths, mistreatment of prisoners, the unchecked spread of diseases — happening entirely unrecorded. In the latest essay in the Brennan Center’s Punitive Excess series, University of Texas professor Michele Deitch explains the positive ripple effects that preventive and independent monitoring could have for conditions in American prisons. “Our extraordinarily punitive prisons and jails are this way because we have allowed them to become so; it is time for us to feel shame about that — and to take the urgent and necessary steps to prevent future harm,” she writes. Read more

 
Coming Up
Wednesday, November 10, 6–7:15 p.m. ET
 
The congressman who led the first impeachment of Donald Trump offers an inside account of American democracy in its darkest hour — and a warning that the forces of autocracy released by Trump remain as potent as ever. In his new book, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) argues that the Trump presidency has so weakened our institutions and compromised the Republican Party that the peril will last for years. RSVP today
 
Produced in partnership with NYU’s John Brademas Center
 
Tuesday, November 16, 12–1 p.m. ET
 
From recent Facebook whistleblower testimony on hate speech to social media surveillance by law enforcement, there is an urgent need for solutions to address Big Tech and its impact on society. Join our panel of experts at the cross section of civic conversation, digital communication, and the future of democracy: Deval Patrick, former Massachusetts governor and member of President Biden’s Future of Tech Commission; Timothy Shriver, founder of UNITE and chairman of the Special Olympics; and Stanford professors Rob Reich and Jeremy Weinstein, authors of the new book System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. The panel will be moderated by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Julia Angwin. RSVP today
 
Produced in partnership with NYU’s John Brademas Center
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