Free & Fair Elections

With continued attacks on our system of free and fair elections across the country, it is critical that we protect and bolster our election processes and stop those who are working to undermine our democracy.

Our democracy survived one of its greatest challenges following the 2020 presidential election when a coordinated campaign to overturn the election culminated in a violent attempt to halt the counting of electoral votes in Congress on January 6, 2021. This anti-democratic campaign prompted attacks on election systems and officials, which continue to this day. It also sparked a national conversation about how our elections are administered and how we can strengthen them, including protecting elections from foreign interference.

In response, Issue One and partners worked alongside leaders on Capitol Hill to try and enact legislation to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the events of that day. Our advocacy helped lead to the creation of the bipartisan January 6th Select Committee that investigated and established a complete account of what happened before and after this deadly attack on democracy, and recommended steps to prevent it from happening again.

Issue One also played an important role in helping Congress pass a bipartisan update to the Electoral Count Act — the Electoral Count Reform Act — which will help ensure a peaceful transfer of power following future presidential elections.

Yet attacks on our democracy continue. Recycled false election narratives sow doubt in our elections, distracting from the nefarious tactics being used to place election administration under partisan control. Some of these tactics include the systematic harassment and intimidation of nonpartisan election officials and poll workers around the country.

Now it’s time to strengthen our elections even more and push back against those working to undermine our democracy. Issue One continues to lead a crosspartisan effort to amplify the voices of the public servants who make our elections work and defeat the threats and harmful information environment that continues to crack the foundation of our democracy.

We:

• Elevate the voices of election officials and poll workers in the public debate and in the federal policy debate through our Faces of Democracy campaign.
• Advocate for increased and regular federal funding for state and local election administrators.
• Continue to push for bipartisan election protection and voting rights legislation in Congress.

Our impact:

• Multi-year advocacy that helped lead to the passage of the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022
• Drove a successful campaign which led to the creation of the January 6th Select Committee
• Created the bipartisan National Council on Election Integrity, consisting of former government officials, public service luminaries, and civic leaders to fight back against false narratives, uphold the credibility of our democratic process, and advocate for free, fair, and secure elections
• Ran a multi-million dollar public campaign called “Count Every Vote” to defend the legitimacy of the 2020 election
• Fought for — and won — $400 million in increased funding for state and local election officials in 2020, and continue to advocate for the resources they need to do their job
• Helped secure $425 million to protect our elections from cyber interference with our “Don’t Mess With US” campaign