A Successful Year
States United Democracy Center
A bipartisan organization advancing free, fair, and secure elections. Democracy needs back-up, that's where we come in.
Only have a minute??
A Successful Year
Six weeks ago, our democracy faced a test. The midterm elections arrived after a two-year onslaught of lies and attacks. But the voting was free, fair, safe, and secure. Our democracy withstood the test. In fact, I believe it emerged even stronger.
None of this happened by accident. Our democracy endured in 2022 because of the dedication and attention of so many people all across the country.
It endured because of the voters, who showed up to defend our elections. They understand that the health of our democracy isn’t some abstract notion, divorced from everyday concerns like the economy or education. The freedom to vote is the freedom to choose our future.
It endured because of our state and local election officials, who did their jobs with care and professionalism. They always do, but we see them now with a new appreciation, and we owe them our deepest thanks.
It endured because of our law enforcement leaders, who worked with election officials to plan ahead and to protect voters and election workers. These leaders understand that elections can’t truly be free and fair unless they are also safe.
Of course, we are just one of an array of nonprofit organizations working to protect our elections at the federal, state, and local levels, each of them staffed by dedicated citizens. Our democracy has good friends.
So much work is ahead as we look to next year and to the presidential election in 2024. But let’s close this year by remembering that our democracy is strong because we all work to keep it that way—and, most of all, because voters don’t take it for granted.
With gratitude,
Joanna Lydgate, States United CEO
Our Work in 2022
At States United, we focus on protecting elections, preventing political violence, promoting truth in elections, and pursuing accountability in defense of our democracy. On all four fronts,?it was a busy year.
You can?check out more highlights?on our?social media channels?this week. But here’s part of how we spent 2022.
We?protected elections?in the courts. Our legal team helped?uphold accurate election results,?remove barriers to voting, and?support full investigations into election interference. We served as co-counsel in more than two dozen election-related cases at all levels this cycle,?including at the Supreme Court, and filed nearly 20 amicus briefs.
We made sure people?face consequences?when they step outside the bounds of our democracy. That includes?legal consequences for the Jan. 6 attack?and?professional consequences?for?lawyers?who?pushed?to?overturn?the free and fair 2020 election.At medium risk are Georgia, where the newly elected lieutenant governor is a?vocal Election Denier?and presides over the state Senate, and Nevada, where county officials this year?tried to interfere?with statewide election certification.
When the?House January 6 Select Committee?began examining the attack in widely watched hearings, we?submitted testimony?to underscore that the threat didn’t begin that day, and hasn’t ended since.
We were the first organization to name and track?Election Deniers?as they ran for statewide offices that oversee voting. We reported on this trend through the primaries and the general election, educating the media and voters at every step of the process. We?sounded the alarm?about the?anti-democracy movement in state legislatures.
Our communications team worked to uplift pro-democracy voices?every day, ensuring that voters knew the stakes of the election and the?crucial roles that state officials play.
We?built partnerships?between those state officials and law enforcement leaders, to help make sure that voters, poll workers, election officials, and the democratic process itself are all safe. Our toolkits helped law enforcement?prepare for the election,?handle threats?and?protests, and?deal with extremism. They also helped election administrators prepare for disruptions ahead of what was mostly, thankfully, a quiet Election Day.
We helped voters sort?truth from lies,?countering disinformation?with the facts about voting and elections. We worked hand in hand with our partner organizations — because democracy is stronger when we work together to defend it.
When the election finally came, voters living in the states where we work delivered a resounding verdict against Election Deniers who sought power over their votes, and?in favor of democracy.?(And then our research explained?why so many deniers lost?their races for statewide office.)
And through it all, we grew. States United added experts in election protection, political violence, accountability, and other fields. By year’s end, we were a team of almost?50 people,?proud of our work to defend democracy in 2022 and ready to meet the threats of the years ahead.
In the News
The Hill:?Jan. 6 Committee’s new report flips a script on history. By Donald Ayer and Dennis Aftergut
“The House Select Committee’s just-issued full report is an extraordinary compilation of evidence of Jan. 6 criminality aimed at overturning our republic.
It also represents something more: a testament to the resilience of our system and its ability — thanks to built-in redundant powers within multiple branches — to act when the rule of law is threatened.”
The Washington Post:?Cassidy Hutchinson claims Trump figures sought to influence her testimony. By Jacqueline Alemany,?Isaac Stanley-Becker,?Amy Gardner, and?Carol D. Leonnig
“Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that she was advised by her first lawyer to deliberately withhold information from investigators and was wooed with job offers and promises of financial stability in exchange for her loyalty to former president Donald Trump.
The claims — which, if true, amount to possible witness tampering — were detailed at length by Hutchinson in interview transcripts that the committee released Thursday.”
NBC:?Informant warned FBI weeks before Jan. 6 that the far right saw Trump tweet as 'a call to arms'. By Ryan J. Reilly
领英推荐
“On Dec. 19, 2020, the day then-President Donald Trump sent a tweet summoning his supporters to a “wild” protest in the nation’s capital on Jan. 6, one of the FBI’s own confidential sources warned the bureau that the far right considered Trump’s message “a call to arms,” according to an email reviewed by NBC News.
That tip to the FBI, from a source who is still used by the bureau and spoke on the condition of anonymity, warned there was a “big” threat of violence on Jan. 6. It was among hundreds of pages of reports viewed by NBC News that this source sent to the FBI in the weeks before the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. The email, which has not been previously reported, warned that the Trump tweet was “gaining hold” on social media.”
CNN:?Georgia grand jury investigating Trump election interference is winding down and has begun writing final report. By Sara Murray
“A special grand jury investigating efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia is winding down its work, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The Atlanta-area special grand jury has largely finished hearing witness testimony and has already begun writing its final report, the sources said, an indication that prosecutors will soon be deciding whether to seek criminal charges and against whom.”
The Washington Post:?Senate passes Electoral Count Act overhaul in response to Jan. 6 attack. By Amy B Wang and Liz Goodwin
“A bipartisan bill that would change how members of Congress could object to electoral votes — Congress’s response to the Jan. 6 insurrection — passed the Senate on Thursday as part of sweeping spending bill to fund the government.
The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), would amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and reaffirm that the vice president has only a ministerial role at the joint session of Congress where electoral college votes are counted. The measure also would raise the threshold necessary for members of Congress to object to a state’s electors.”
The New York Times:?Proud Boys Trial Is Set to Open, Focusing on Role in Jan. 6 Violence. By Alan Feuer
“On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, as scores of Proud Boys were getting ready to take their place in a pro-Trump mob outside the Capitol, a leader of the far-right group sent a message to his colleagues.
“I want to see thousands of normies burn that city to ash today,” he wrote.
Almost two years later, the notion that the Proud Boys wanted to provoke violence among the “normies” — or the normal people — in the crowd that day rests at the heart of the government’s case against five members of the group who are facing trial on charges of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol attack.”
Reuters:?Sidney Powell should be sanctioned over Wisc. election claims, governor tells appeals court. By David Thomas
“Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Monday asked a U.S. appeals court in Chicago to revive his bid to sanction conservative lawyer Sidney Powell over one of her lawsuits alleging fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Evers, in a 75-page brief to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, argued that a judge who declined to sanction Powell did not recognize the ‘heart’ of his argument: that Powell and a team of other lawyers ‘advanced meritless claims in their last-ditch effort to overturn the will of the people and have Donald J. Trump judicially declared the winner of Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election.’”
__________________________________________________________________________
Op-Ed of the Week!
Caroline Edwards, a Capitol police officer,?writes for The New York Times about the ongoing trauma of Jan. 6, 2021: “For me, this story cannot end overnight, because the riot itself was an attack not just on an essential American institution but also on the people who live and serve to protect it.”
The States United newsletter will be on hiatus next week.
It will return Friday, Jan. 6.
Sign up for daily updates?here.
We're Hiring!
The States United team is growing. We’re building out key positions as we work to protect the integrity of our elections and serve as a resource to state leaders. You can check out our open positions and apply?here.?
About the States United Democracy Center:
The States United Democracy Center is a nonpartisan organization advancing free, fair, and secure elections. We focus on connecting state officials, law enforcement leaders, and pro-democracy partners across America with the tools and expertise they need to safeguard our democracy. We are more than a think tank—we are an action tank. And together, we are committed to making sure every vote is counted, every voice is heard, and every election is safe. To learn more, visit?www.statesuniteddemocracy.org.
About States United Action
States United Action is a nonpartisan section 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization with a mission to protect our elections and our democracy. States United Action advocates for policies that protect election integrity, hold democracy violators accountable, and prevent political violence that threatens to undermine the will of the American people, and amplifies the voices of state leaders and law enforcement leaders who share these values. To learn more, visit?www.statesuniteddemocracy.org/states-united-action.
You can?update your preferences?or?unsubscribe from this list.