Protecting Electoral Democracy
How citizens, institutions, and civil society can defend and strengthen democratic elections against erosion and attack.
The Landscape of Threats
Electoral democracy faces threats from multiple directions. Authoritarian leaders can manipulate rules, gerrymander districts, restrict opposition media, and weaponize state resources for campaigning. Foreign governments can interfere through hacking, disinformation, and funding of preferred candidates. Domestic disinformation spreads false claims about fraud and voting processes. And democratic fatigue, declining trust in institutions and falling participation, erodes the foundation on which elections rest.
These threats are interconnected. When public trust in elections falls, it becomes easier for bad actors to claim that elections are rigged, which further erodes trust in a vicious cycle. The erosion of democratic norms (accepting election results, respecting the opposition's right to compete, maintaining independent election administration) makes formal rules less effective because democracy depends on norms as much as laws.
