Manipulating the Rules of the Game
State legislatures and courts are rewriting election laws, redrawing maps, and changing administrative procedures in ways that predetermine outcomes before a single ballot is cast.
Undermining Election Administration
The federal government has shifted from supporting election administration to actively degrading it — defunding security agencies, threatening election workers, and placing partisan actors in oversight roles.
Suppressing and Intimidating Voters
A multi-pronged effort to discourage and prevent eligible voters from casting ballots — particularly targeting communities of color, young voters, military families, and urban areas.
Information Warfare and Disinformation
A coordinated assault on truth itself — combining AI-generated deepfakes, collapsed platform safeguards, dying local newsrooms, and systematic delegitimization of election results.
Weaponizing Federal Power
The federal government has shifted from protecting elections to actively undermining them — weaponizing the DOJ, building surveillance databases, and using federal authority to pressure state election systems.
Subverting Results After the Vote
Even if every eligible voter manages to cast a ballot, the results can still be subverted through certification refusal, bad-faith legal challenges, and political violence.
Where You Can Step In
The gaps above aren't abstract — they represent specific places where people, organizations, and funders can make a measurable difference before November 2026.
Money Needed Now
- →Join “All by April” — funders must commit election grants before April 2026. 85% of funders had no plan as of fall 2025.
- →Fund cybersecurity for local election offices abandoned by CISA. Rural counties are completely exposed.
- →Close the $165M+ grassroots ground-game shortfall in battleground states.
- →Fund Spanish-language fact-checking — the most underserved front in the disinformation war.
- →Fund local journalism in the 2,500+ news deserts where no one is watching election administration.
Legal Action Needed
- →Private litigation must replace collapsed DOJ enforcement — organizations like Democracy Docket and Campaign Legal Center need funding now.
- →Pre-position legal teams for certification refusals and federal interference attempts.
- →Challenge aggressive voter purges and proof-of-citizenship requirements that disenfranchise eligible voters.
- →Push state-level Voting Rights Acts — only 8 states have them. Southern states need them most.
People Power Needed
- →Become a poll worker — 48% of jurisdictions report shortages. Your county needs you.
- →Train as an election observer to provide nonpartisan oversight at your local polling place.
- →Protect election officials — support anti-doxxing legislation and report threats.
- →Build media literacy in your community — especially for those targeted by AI deepfakes and non-English disinformation.
- →Call 866-OUR-VOTE to report voter intimidation or suppression at any polling place.
“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual — but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”
— Samuel Adams, c. 1781
Risk Level Key
CriticalActive, structural threat with immediate impact
Very HighDocumented pattern with imminent threat
HighDemonstrated capability and stated intent
Medium-HighLikely given historical pattern
Based on publicly reported actions, statements, and expert analysis as of March 2026. Risk levels reflect both likelihood and potential impact on democratic processes.