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Elections & Voting

Ensuring the safety, security, and integrity of U.S. elections and protecting every American’s freedom to vote. Learn about the related work of our National Council on Election Integrity and our Faces of Democracy campaign.

Areas of focus

Our elections cannot withstand repeated future stresses unless we take action to protect them now.

The 2020 election was the most secure in history, with the highest turnout in over a century, even amidst a pandemic. The expansion of early and mail-in voting, as well as a host of other innovations by dedicated election officials, helped ensure the success of this election despite enormous challenges and financial strains.

At the same time, 2020 saw an unprecedented assault on our democratic system. Disinformation was rampant. State and local election officials — our friends, families, and neighbors — faced violent threats and insufficient resources. Americans’ trust in our system was deeply undermined. A violent insurrection stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Legislators in states around the nation continue to lead an unprecedented assault on democracy, using election disinformation to further entrench their power by putting election administration under partisan control and passing measures with extreme anti-voting provisions.

Meanwhile, politicians in both parties continue to draw favorable maps to allow them to choose their voters, instead of the other way around.

Issue One is leading a crosspartisan effort to put a stop to this by ensuring our elections are safe, secure, and fair.

We:

Elevate the voices of election officials and workers in the policy debate in Washington, D.C. through our Faces of Democracy campaign
Continue to push for bipartisan voting rights legislation like the Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act
Push back against election disinformation with our “Truthtellers” video series
Advocate for increased and regular federal funding for state and local election administrators

Our impact:

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
Created the bipartisan National Council on Election Integrity of former government officials, public service luminaries, and civic leaders to fight back against partisan disinformation and uphold the credibility of our democratic process, which led a multi-million dollar public campaign called “Count Every Vote” to defend the legitimacy of the 2020 election and continues to advocate for the freedom to vote and fair elections
Advocated for an independent bipartisan commission to investigate the events of January 6, 2021, which passed the House with strong bipartisan support
Helped secure $425 million to protect our elections from foreign interference with our “Don’t Mess With US” campaign

Featured Work

Reports

The High Cost of High Turnover

When local election officials leave their positions in record numbers, the costs to institutional knowledge and running elections are significant...

Introduction In the wake of a contentious presidential election in November 2020 that led to harassment and death threats against many once-obscure election administrators, droves of local election officials have…

Press releases

Dozens of bipartisan election officials, former members of Congress, and government officials call on Congress to fund our elections

New poll also finds overwhelming bipartisan agreement that the federal government should do more to fund elections...

More than three dozen bipartisan election officials, former members of Congress, Cabinet secretaries, and national security leaders have joined together to urgently call on Congress to adequately fund U.S. election…

Reports

Securing 2024: Defending US Elections through Investment and Reform

13 policy recommendations for federal and state lawmakers to meet 2024 administrative challenges...

Introduction As a result of the 2020 and 2022 federal elections, the job of administering elections has dramatically changed in the United States, and the demands on the dedicated officials…

Press releases

In new congressional testimony, Shasta County Clerk and Faces of Democracy member calls for attacks on democracy at the county-level to stop

Today, Shasta County Clerk and Faces of Democracy member Cathy Darling Allen submitted written testimony to the House Administration Elections Subcommittee, calling attention to ongoing attacks on democracy in counties…