Amid declining public trust in government and growing polarization, it is more important than ever to safeguard our elections against interference by foreign governments or domestic partisanship. The Brennan Center tracks efforts to undermine election integrity and promotes reforms that will ensure the accuracy of our electoral processes.
For example, the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision opened up the door to unlimited campaign spending by corporations. Yet Congress and the Federal Election Commission have yet to address whether corporations with significant foreign ownership or control are subject to a ban on foreign interference. This could lead to the proliferation of dark money in US elections and, ultimately, erode confidence in our democracy.
In the 2016 election, Russia used hackers and trolls to interfere in American politics. The Senate Intelligence Committee found that they sought to polarize Americans by exploiting societal, ideological, and racial differences, provoked real world events, and supported their favored candidate, Donald Trump. This campaign may not have swung the election, but it did undermine American confidence in the integrity of our electoral process.
Since 2020, the United States has made significant progress in insulating future elections from subversion. In particular, Congress passed the Electoral Count and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 (ECRA), closing some loopholes and resolving ambiguities that were exploited by the Trump campaign. Additionally, several states have taken steps to combat disinformation, train new election workers, and protect voters and poll workers from violence and threats.
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