UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Elections are the bedrock of any democracy. They rely on nonpartisan officials to administer them, voters to cast votes and candidates to accept the results, all in accordance with the law. According to some political experts, these democratic norms are under attack in states across the country as several legislatures seek to add barriers to voting rights, interfere with election administration, oust nonpartisan election officials, and refuse to accept the 2020 election results.
The States United Democracy Center is pushing back by empowering state and local officials, law enforcement leaders, and pro-democracy partners by connecting them with tools and expertise they may need to administer free, fair and secure elections. For that work, the organization’s co-founders will receive the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s 2022 Brown Democracy Medal.
States United is guided by a bipartisan advisory board of former administration officials, law enforcement leaders, and former state and local leaders from both major political parties who are committed to engaging and empowering pro-democracy leadership. The organization focuses on protecting elections, holding democracy violators accountable, preventing political violence, and combating disinformation.
States United was originally founded during the 2020 election, and continues to be led, by Joanna Lydgate, former chief deputy attorney general of Massachusetts; Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and Environmental Protection Agency administrator; and Norman Eisen, former Ambassador to the Czech Republic and special assistant to President Barack Obama for ethics and government reform.
“The state and local officials who oversee our elections are the guardians of our democracy — they’re absolutely critical to a government of, by, and for the people,” said Lydgate, who serves as the organization’s CEO. “In 2020 — in the face of lies, threats and intimidation — state and local leaders on both sides of the aisle protected the will of American voters. They can and will do so again in 2022, 2024 and beyond, but only if we step up to support them. It’s all hands on deck for democracy.”
In 2021, States United teamed up with Protect Democracy and Law Forward to release a series of reports called Democracy Crisis in the Making, which analyzes the reports of nationwide election interference in state legislatures accused of seeking to politicize, criminalize or thwart the nonpartisan administration of election. The year-end report indicated that there have been at least 262 bills introduced in 41 states that would interfere with election administration — and 32 of these bills have become law across 17 states in 2021.
“The anti-democracy playbook is simple: change the rules and change the referees, in order to change the results,” said Whitman, who serves as co-chair. “To fight back, States United is focused on aiding and empowering those officials who are committed to protecting the freedom to vote, holding those who threaten our free and fair elections accountable, and preventing the political violence that puts our election officials and communities at risk.”
Elsen, who serves as co-chair, said, “The lies and conspiracy theories that set the stage for the Jan. 6 insurrection have metastasized, over the past year, into calls for bogus election investigations, efforts to roll back the freedom to vote, and attempts to hijack nonpartisan election administration. Our eyes are wide open to the anti-democracy threat — and we are bringing together a powerhouse team to provide the resources and tools needed to safeguard our elections and the trusted officials who run them.”
On the legal side, the States United Democracy Center provides pro-bono legal services to state and local officials across the country. This legal work includes litigation, analysis and other legal action to defend nonpartisan election processes, protect private voter information, promote fair maps, and seek accountability for the Jan. 6 insurrection and the misinformation about elections.
The McCourtney Institute’s faculty advisory board selected States United leaders for the Brown Democracy Medal to highlight the important work they’re doing in upholding one of democracy’s most sacred traditions in a fair, nonpartisan way.
“Unless every citizen has an equal opportunity to cast a vote and to have their vote counted, democracy crumbles,” said McCourtney Institute Managing Director Christopher Beem. “States United supports the work of local and state election officials who oversee elections in the United States, and fights against those who would subvert this fundamental right.”
The States United leadership team will travel to University Park to accept the award and give a public lecture on their work on Oct. 20. They will also write an essay that will be published later this year by Cornell University Press.
Established in 2014, the Brown Democracy Medal is funded by Larry and Lynne Brown to recognize new and innovative scholarship or practice in democracy. Both are Penn State alumni, and Larry Brown is chair of the McCourtney Institute’s Board of Visitors.
The award’s previous recipients include Desmond Meade, executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, and Srđa Popović, founder of the Center for Applied Nonviolent Actions and Strategies.
For more information on States United, visit statesuniteddemocracy.org. For more information on the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, visit democracy.psu.edu.