States across the country are establishing or empowering law enforcement agencies to aggressively pursue rare instances of voter fraud.

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Since the 2020 election, the nation’s voting systems have been under unprecedented attack from multiple angles. Laws that make it harder to vote. Legislation that sabotages the electoral process. Threats and harassment directed at election officials. Extreme racial and partisan gerrymandering.

Enter another threat: “election police.”

As the New York Times reported

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over the weekend, Republican governors and legislators are creating new law enforcement agencies to aggressively pursue voter fraud allegations. Earlier this month, the Florida Legislature voted to create the Office of Election Crimes and Security. In Georgia, a bill moving through the legislature expands the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s power to pursue election violations. An Arizona bill introduced by a state senator who wants to overturn the 2020 election would create an “election bureau” to aggressively hunt down voter fraud. Texas already has its own “election integrity unit” — which it has beefed up over the last two years — in search of voter fraud to prosecute.

There’s one problem: widespread voting fraud is a myth, and these measures are a solution likely to be far worse than the problem.

How do we know this? Because as the Times reports, Florida election officials made 75 referrals of possible election fraud during the 2020 election, according to the Florida secretary of state’s office. Just four cases have been prosecuted.

Over the last two years, Texas’s election integrity unit has had about as much luck as Florida. In 2020, the unit closed 17 cases. Last year, that number fell to three. And in Wisconsin, its election commission reported that it had referred 95 incidents of people with a criminal record voting to local prosecutors. All told, 16 people have been charged with a crime.

These numbers are par for the course. Lorraine Minnite, an expert in voter fraud at Rutgers University, told the Times that the amount of voter fraud happening doesn’t change much. “In an election of 130 million or 140 million people, it’s close to zero.”

Yet 62 percent of Republicans — compared with just 19 percent of Democrats — say voter fraud is a major problem, according to a recent poll from Monmouth University.

This predates Donald Trump’s Big Lie of a stolen election, but his cartoonish version has now become dogma. “As myths about widespread voter fraud become central to political campaigns and discourse, we’re seeing more of the high-profile attempts to make examples of individuals,” my colleague Wendy Weiser explained to the Times.

These efforts are clearly political, and its proponents are playing with fire. To create law enforcement squads to aggressively search for vanishingly rare fraud doesn’t just waste taxpayer money. It’s one more way partisans are using the myth of widespread voter fraud to cast doubt on free and fair elections.

By continuing to discredit our election system without any evidence, these self-proclaimed protectors of democracy are nothing but arsonists.





Constitution

Ketanji Brown Jackson SCOTUS Nomination

Senate hearings are ongoing this week for the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court. The Brennan Center has published a collection

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of related pieces by our experts, ranging from the importance of diversity on the bench to putting it in the context of past Supreme Court nominations.

One noteworthy article addresses Jackson’s experience as a public defender, which has been expected to draw criticism from certain senators. Citing the Sixth Amendment and the importance of the right to an attorney, Hernandez Stroud argues that “any attack on Jackson for standing up for the right to a fair trial is an attack on the Constitution.” Read more

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What’s Next After the China Initiative?

The Justice Department has ended its controversial Trump-era “China Initiative” program, which sought to fight economic espionage but was criticized heavily for excessive and misguided prosecution of researchers and academics who are from China or of Chinese ancestry. However, many issues and loose ends remain, from pending trials unaffected by the program’s demise to the persisting impact on civil liberties and personal reputations. Michael German and Alex Liang discuss the fallout of the initiative and the work still to be done to restore trust and make amends in affected communities. JUST SECURITY

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Democracy

Understanding the Push for DC Statehood

For its nearly 700,000 residents, statehood for Washington, DC, would mean full congressional representation and control of their own government. The movement for this goal has gained momentum, but significant obstacles remain. In a new Brennan Center explainer, Maya Efrati tackles the past, present, and future of the push to cure this democratic deficit, from the changing political winds around it to its civil rights ramifications. “Voting rights for DC residents shouldn’t depend on who they vote for. DC statehood is crucial for ensuring all eligible Americans the full franchise,” she writes. Read more

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Fellows

Women’s Rights in America — and Democracy — at Risk

Last fall, a respected European think tank added the United States to its list of “backsliding democracies.” Jennifer Weiss-Wolf argues that this shouldn’t be surprising in light of the country’s sorry state of affairs on gender equality, which is getting worse with the renewed attacks on reproductive rights. “These are not merely the byproducts of a democracy on the decline. Rather they also drive a downward spiral — and can inevitably lead to deeper inequality and wider gaps in participation, a truly vicious cycle,” she writes. Read more

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Justice

Don’t Go Blaming Bail Reform

As debates over public safety, prosecutorial excess, and crime continue in New York State, some critics have been quick to point to the state’s bail reforms that went into effect in 2020, eliminating cash bail for most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony charges. Ames Grawert and Noah Kim review recent research on the subject alongside New York crime statistics and find that there is no evidence that the former is driving recent increases in the latter. “Any attempt to link bail reform to rising crime should be evaluated skeptically. Indeed, some early arguments about the effects of bail reform have been directly disproven,” they write. Read more

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Coming Up

VIRTUAL EVENT SERIES: Drawing the Line: How Redistricting Impacts Latino Communities

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Hispanic Federation and the Brennan Center are co-hosting a series of discussions that will provide an update on the redistricting process in North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Georgia. Panelists will discuss the impact that the new maps will have on the Latino community, upcoming elections, and representation at all levels. RSVP today

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North Carolina: Thursday, March 24, 3 p.m. ET

Speakers: Fatima Diop, Vice Chair, International Advisory Committee of Greensboro // Lariza Garzon, North Carolina Director, Hispanic Federation // Ricky Hurtado, State Representative // Manuel Mejías, Southeast Regional Managing Organizer, Democracy NC // Iliana Santillán, Executive Director, El Pueblo // Moderator: Gabriella Limón, Research and Program Associate, Brennan Center Democracy Program

Florida: Thursday, March 31, 10:30 a.m. ET

Speakers: Laudi Campo, Florida Director, Hispanic Federation // Miranda Galindo, Senior Counsel, LatinoJustice, PRLDEF // Thomas Kennedy, Policy Adviser, Florida Immigrant Coalition // Jackie Colón, Southeast Regional Director, NALEO Educational Fund // Joel Flores, Mayor, City of Greenacres // Moderator: Mireya Navarro, Editor-In-Chief, Brennan en español

Texas: Thursday, April 7, 1 p.m. ET

Georgia: Thursday, April 14, 11 a.m. ET





VIRTUAL EVENT: Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America

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Thursday, March 31, 6–7 p.m. ET

Join Gilda R. Daniels, University of Baltimore law professor and author of Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America

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, in conversation with the Brennan Center’s Wendy Weiser to discuss the crisis of voter suppression today. Daniels, who served as a deputy chief in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and has more than two decades of voting rights litigation experience, warns that a premeditated strategy of restrictive laws and deceptive practices has taken root and is eroding the very basis of American democracy — the right to vote. RSVP today

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Produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center

Want to keep up with Brennan Center Live events? Subscribe to the events newsletter.

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News

Alicia Bannon on the beneficial impact of judicial diversity // U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

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Andrew Garber on mail ballot rejections and voter suppression in Texas // INTERCEPT

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Michael German on domestic counterterrorism tactics // GUARDIAN

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Kelly Percival on the importance of an equitable census count // YAHOO NEWS

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Jasleen Singh on the impact of voter suppression laws // VOX

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Hernandez Stroud on a potential receivership for Rikers Island // WASHINGTON POST

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Derek Tisler on Congress passing funding for election infrastructure // ARIZONA MIRROR

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Wendy Weiser on southern states’ problematic “crackdowns” on voter fraud // REUTERS

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Feedback on this newsletter? Email us at [email protected]

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