Dear John,

People have asked me for the most important takeaway of the midterm elections. Here’s one: Swing state voters rejected every single election denier who ran for a position that controls voting and elections. Yes, there’s an election denier movement that threatens our country’s core beliefs. And now there’s a democracy movement growing stronger every day. It spans the political divide — and you are an essential part of it.

The rejection of election deniers and their lies makes clear that people want orderly, safe, and fair elections. Our mission must be to ensure free and fair elections in 2024 — and to use this momentum to renew and reform our systems so they work for all. Playing defense is not enough.

Remember, the threats to voting rights and elections have not dissipated overnight. Election deniers and partisan operatives aren’t going anywhere — they will continue to evolve and deploy new election subversion tactics going into the 2024 presidential race.

We aren’t going anywhere, either. In Congress and in the states, we will continue fighting attempts to reverse election results, and we’ll rebuild the democratic norms trashed by those who peddle the Big Lie. We’ll advance policies to protect voting rights, ensure fair representation, and curb the role of big money in politics. This Giving Tuesday, we ask for your help as we repair and strengthen American democracy.

Voter suppression legislation — ”justified” by the lie of a stolen 2020 election — created new obstacles to voting. These laws targeted voters of color, and our preliminary analysis indicates that gaps in racial turnout persisted and even widened in the midterms. At the same time, voters faced a wave of disinformation when trying to access basic voting and election information.

Now the fight moves to the Supreme Court. Next week, it will hear Moore v. Harper, in which its radicalized, conservative supermajority could embrace the baseless “independent state legislature theory.” This antidemocratic scheme for minority rule would strip away critical checks and balances so that governors, state judges, and even state constitutions would be nearly powerless to protect voting rights.

How could the outcome of Moore v. Harper affect voters? A state legislature could, for example, eliminate early voting — even in states where the constitution guarantees it or the people enacted it by ballot initiative. As we told the justices in our friend of the court brief, this would create chaos in our elections. All of us should raise our voices: democracy matters, checks and balances matter, and the Constitution matters.

That’s why your support is so important. By making a tax-deductible gift to the Brennan Center, you’re helping us build on this momentum for critical democracy reform. Donate today to help expand voting rights, improve our election systems, and fight for our multiracial democracy.

We’re pleased to announce that a generous donor will match every contribution, dollar-for-dollar, up to $250,000. That means your gift to the Brennan Center will be instantly doubled for Giving Tuesday.

Thank you for making your voice heard, and for your generous support.

Sincerely,
Michael Waldman
Brennan Center for Justice