Donald Trump took office as president on January 20, 2025, having already served one term. Immediately, however, he made clear his second term would be even more unpredictable than his first. He put one of the world's richest men — and his biggest campaign donor — in charge of a shadowy new entity with seemingly unfettered access to government data. Trump also blitzed the system with a barrage of executive orders, which have seemingly upended the government. He has done everything from threatening judges and lawyers to attacking the very concept of birthright citizenship, while Congress has remained largely on the sidelines.

In short, Trump has moved aggressively against many of the checks and balances that American democracy has built in. As he works to consolidate power for the executive branch, other players have stepped up to challenge the president's moves — Campaign Legal Center among them. In this special episode of Democracy Decoded, our host Simone Leeper speaks with Trevor Potter, the president and founder of Campaign Legal Center, and Adav Noti, the executive director of Campaign Legal Center, to discuss what they’ve seen and what they’re doing during this unprecedented moment.

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Trevor Potter is President at Campaign Legal Center. A Republican former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Trevor was general counsel to John McCain’s 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns and an adviser to the drafters of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. To many, he is perhaps best known for his recurring appearances on The Colbert Report as the lawyer for Stephen Colbert’s super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, during the 2012 election, a program that won a Peabody Award for excellence in reporting on money in politics. 

The American Bar Association Journal has described Trevor as “hands-down one of the top lawyers in the country on the delicate intersection of politics, law and money.” He has provided testimony and written statements to Congress on federal election proposals, campaign finance regulation and, recently, the effects of the January 6th attack on our democracy. During the 2020 election season, Trevor was named to the cross-partisan National Task Force on Election Crises.

Adav Noti is Executive Director at Campaign Legal Center. He has conducted dozens of constitutional cases in trial and appellate courts and the United States Supreme Court. He also advises Members of Congress and other policymakers on advancing democracy through legislation. Prior to joining CLC, Adav served for more than 10 years in nonpartisan leadership capacities within the Office of General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission, and he served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Adav regularly provides expert analysis for television, radio, and print journalism. He has appeared on broadcasts such as The Rachel Maddow Show, Anderson Cooper 360, PBS NewsHour, and National Public Radio's Morning Edition, and he is regularly cited in publications nationwide, including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Politico, Slate, and Reuters.

Links:
The Trump Administration’s (Second) 100 Days: What You Need to Know – Campaign Legal Center
It’s almost Inauguration Day. Will there be any checks on Trump’s power? – The Hill op-ed by Trevor Potter
Bad Signs for Democracy as First 100 Days Begins – CLC newsletter, From the Desk of Trevor Potter
On the Question of Crisis – CLC newsletter, From the Desk of Trevor Potter

About CLC:

Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization which advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process. Learn more about us.

Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

In the end, the worst of everyone’s election fears — political violence, overt foreign interference or a razor-thin margin between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump leading to a hotly contested legal battle — did not come to pass. Instead, Donald Trump won a plurality of votes for president, and did so decisively. On January 20, 2025, he will once again become the country’s most powerful executive.

His victory raises weighty questions for the experts at Campaign Legal Center. Trump ran explicitly on a platform of behaving like an authoritarian, promising to fire U.S. civil servants, threatening opponents with jail, and brandishing military force against would-be dissenters. As his return to power approaches, we grapple with a paradoxical election, in which voters declared their preference for the candidate who repeatedly threatened the American system as we know it.

Joining Simone in this episode are Trevor Potter, CLC’s president and founder, and CLC senior vice presidents Paul M. Smith and Bruce Spiva. They offer their forecasts for the uncertain years ahead and explain what this election did (and did not) signify about the health of American democracy.

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Trevor Potter is President at Campaign Legal Center. A Republican former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Trevor was general counsel to John McCain’s 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns and an adviser to the drafters of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. To many, he is perhaps best known for his recurring appearances on The Colbert Report as the lawyer for Stephen Colbert’s super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, during the 2012 election, a program that won a Peabody Award for excellence in reporting on money in politics. 

The American Bar Association Journal has described Trevor as “hands-down one of the top lawyers in the country on the delicate intersection of politics, law and money.” He has provided testimony and written statements to Congress on federal election proposals, campaign finance regulation and, recently, the effects of the January 6th attack on our democracy. During the 2020 election season, Trevor was named to the cross-partisan National Task Force on Election Crises.

Bruce Spiva is Senior Vice President at Campaign Legal Center. He is an attorney and community leader who has spent his over 30-year career fighting for civil rights and civil liberties, voting rights, consumer protection, and antitrust enforcement.

Over the past three decades, he has tried cases and argued appeals in courtrooms across the country, including arguing against vote suppression in the United States Supreme Court in 2021. In 2022, in his first run for public office, Bruce mounted a competitive run in the primary election for Washington, D.C. Attorney General. 

In addition to founding his own law firm where he practiced for eleven years, Bruce has held several leadership and management positions as a partner at two national law firms. Most recently, Bruce served as the Managing Partner of the D.C. Office and on the firm-wide Executive Committee of Perkins Coie LLP, where he also had an active election law practice. He first-chaired twelve voting rights and redistricting trials across the country, and argued numerous voting rights appeals in U.S. circuit courts and state supreme courts during his tenure at Perkins. 

Paul M. Smith is Senior Vice President at Campaign Legal Center. He works directly with CLC’s talented team of litigators to protect and advance American democracy through innovative litigation strategies.

Paul has four decades of experience litigating a wide range of cases. He has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court 21 times and secured numerous victories, including in the important cases advancing civil liberties and civil rights, Lawrence v. Texas, the landmark gay rights case, and Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Ass’n, which established First Amendment rights of those who produce and sell video games. 

In addition, Paul has argued several voting rights cases at the Supreme Court, including Vieth v. Jubelirer and Gill v. Whitford, involving partisan gerrymandering, LULAC v. Perry, involving the legality of Texas’s mid-decade redrawing of congressional districts and Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, involving the constitutionality of a voter identification law. He served as counsel for amici in several key campaign finance merits cases including McCutcheon v. FEC (on behalf of Democratic House members), Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett (on behalf of the Committee for Economic Development) and Citizens United v. FEC (on behalf of the Committee for Economic Development).

Links:

www.campaignlegal.org/support-our-work

About CLC:

Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization which advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process. Learn more about us.

Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

This week’s episode is short, sweet, and to the point: It’s Election Day, and if you haven’t yet cast your vote, let us be your friendly reminder. Like many of her CLC colleagues, Simone will spend the day monitoring elections. Next week she’ll be back with the final episode of the season, with a look at how this most dramatic election is playing out.

Until then, it’s up to you.

Nationwide nonpartisan Election Protection (EP) hotline:
866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)

Host:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Links:

Vote.org

About CLC:

Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization which advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process. Learn more about us.

Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

An incumbent president drops out, mid-race. A former president becomes a party’s nominee for the first time in more than a century. There are multiple occurrences of political violence against a candidate. Newly emergent AI tools spread disinformation. And a Supreme Court that may be called upon to decide the race is perceived by the electorate as increasingly politicized.

The 2024 election cycle has already made its share of history. With Election Day now just a week away, we bring you another of this season’s up-to-the-minute episodes. This time we’re speaking with Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center, who joins Simone to explain how this election has been playing out, and what it all means for you, the voter, as the deadline nears to cast your ballot.

Nationwide nonpartisan Election Protection (EP) hotline:
866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Trevor Potter is President at Campaign Legal Center. A Republican former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Trevor was general counsel to John McCain’s 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns and an adviser to the drafters of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. To many, he is perhaps best known for his recurring appearances on The Colbert Report as the lawyer for Stephen Colbert’s super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, during the 2012 election, a program that won a Peabody Award for excellence in reporting on money in politics. 

The American Bar Association Journal has described Trevor as “hands-down one of the top lawyers in the country on the delicate intersection of politics, law and money.” Trevor is the author of several books and manuals on lobbying regulation and disclosure, campaign finance and federal election law. He has provided testimony and written statements to Congress on federal election proposals, campaign finance regulation and, recently, the effects of the January 6th attack on our democracy. He has also taught campaign finance law at the University of Virginia School of Law and Oxford University, and he has appeared widely in national broadcast and print media. During the 2020 election season, Trevor was named to the cross-partisan National Task Force on Election Crises.

Links:

Count Every Vote, So Every Vote Counts - Campaign Legal Center

What Happens To My Ballot After I Vote? - Campaign Legal Center

Want Election Results Sooner? Allow Election Officials to Process Mail Ballots Early - Campaign Legal Center

Electoral Count Reform Act Makes It Harder to Undermine Presidential Elections - Campaign Legal Center

About CLC:

Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization which advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process. Learn more about us.

Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Imagine you’re at home when you hear a knock. At your door are people who want you to share, in detail, who you voted for in the last election, months ago. When you ask them who they are and where they’re from, they remain vague and perhaps even aggressive.

This was the case for some Americans in the years after the 2020 election, part of a spate of behaviors by election skeptics and deniers that, in some cases, amounted to voter intimidation. The history of voter intimidation in the United States is sordid and violent, especially in the century between the U.S. Civil War and the passage of strong voter protections in the 1960s. But it’s important to remember that voter intimidation is against the law. Whether you’re voting in-person, by mail or via election dropbox, you should never be made to feel unsafe or intimidated while exercising your freedom to vote..

Carly Koppes, the clerk and recorder of Colorado’s enormous Weld County, describes to us the steps she and fellow officials took when they received reports of unwelcome and unofficial vigilante election “auditors” going door to door in 2021. Christina Das of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund walks us through the bleak history of voter intimidation in America. And CLC’s Jonathan Diaz explains how voter intimidation has evolved to become sneakier and more subversive in the digital age — and the steps you can take if you encounter it.

Nationwide nonpartisan Election Protection (EP) hotline:
866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Carly Koppes has been working in the Weld County Clerk and Recorder’s office for twenty years starting in June of 2004. Her main department was the Election department, but she has also worked in the Recording and Motor Vehicle departments during her time working for the Clerk and Recorder office. She received her Colorado Election Official Certification from the Colorado Secretary of State in October 2007 and finished up her national designation of Certified Elections/Registration Administrators (CERA) through the Elections Center's Professional Education Program at Auburn University in July of 2014. Carly is a 2016 graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies and in 2019 she received her Public Leadership certification from Pepperdine University through the International Association of Government Officials. Carly was also honored along with the Colorado County Clerks Association to receive the Defender of Democracy Award from The Center for Election Innovation and Research in 2022. In 2023 Carly was appointed to the national Local Leadership Council of the Election Assistance Commission and was elected as the Vice Chair of the Council. Carly is the youngest person to be elected to the position of Weld County Clerk and Recorder.  Carly is currently serving on the Executive Board for the Colorado County Clerks Association; Carly was President of the Colorado County Clerks Association in 2021 and will serve as President in 2026.

Christina Das is Counsel on the Black Voters on the Rise team with LDF, an interdisciplinary team leading year-round election protection and election administration advocacy efforts across the South, using legal, organizing, and advocacy tools to defend and advance the rights of Black voters to participate in our democracy. Christina’s experience includes executing strategic campaigns to expand voter access, such as passing legislation for in-person Early Voting in South Carolina in 2022 and working with state-based coalitions to implement jail-based polling places for eligible detained individuals across Texas. She co-leads the national Election Protection Working Group for Jail and Post-Release Voting and has been working with system impacted individuals over the past four years to break down procedural barriers to accessing the ballot behind bars. Christina will lead LDF's election protection program in Texas for the 2024 cycle and support ongoing litigation efforts. Post-election, she works to safeguard the election certification process from any targeted sabotage efforts, as well as working on future policy and election administration reforms at the local, state, and federal level.

Jonathan Diaz is Director for Voting Advocacy and Partnerships at Campaign Legal Center. Jonathan helps lead CLC’s work on combating election manipulation and participates on behalf of CLC on a number of democracy reform coalitions, coordinating CLC's work with partner organizations at the national, state and local levels. He also litigates voting rights cases across the United States, including VoteAmerica v. Raffensperger (N.D.Ga.), LUCHA v. Fontes (D.Ariz.), and Raysor v. Lee (N.D.Fla./11th Cir./SCOTUS). Jonathan frequently provides commentary on voting rights and election law issues in the media; he has been quoted in publications including the New York Times, Miami Herald, and ProPublica, and has appeared on Univision, NPR, and CNN, where he was an election law analyst during the 2020 election cycle.

Links:

Is Voter Intimidation Illegal? What Should I Do If I Experience It? - Campaign Legal Center

Texas Appeals Court Overturns Crystal Mason’s Conviction, 5-Year Sentence for Illegal Voting - The Texas Tribune

Voter Intimidation in 2022 Follows a Long History of Illegal and Racist Bullying - The Conversation

Retro Report: Poll Watchers and the Long History of Voter Intimidation - PBS LearningMedia

How to Navigate Intimidation and Other Obstacles to Voting - CNN 

About CLC:

Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization which advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process. Learn more about us.

Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

When New Hampshire voters picked up the phone earlier this year and heard what sounded like the voice of President Joe Biden asking them not to vote in that state’s primary election, the stage was set for an unprecedented election year. The call was a deepfake — and the first major instance of artificial intelligence being used in the 2024 election. With the rise of AI tools that can credibly synthesize voices, images and videos, how are voters supposed to determine what they can trust as they prepare to cast their votes?

To find out how lawmakers and civil society are pushing back against harmful false narratives and content, we talked with experts engaging the problem on several fronts. Stephen Richer, an elected Republican in Phoenix, posts on X (formerly Twitter) to engage misinformation head-on to protect Arizona voters. Adav Noti, the executive director of CLC, explains how good-governance advocates are hurrying to catch up with a profusion of new digital tools that make the age-old practices of misinformation and disinformation faster and cheaper than ever. And Mia Hoffman, a researcher who looks at the effects of AI on democracies, reminds voters not to panic — that bad information and malicious messaging don’t always have the power to reach their audience, let alone sway people’s opinions or actions.

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Stephen Richer is the 30th Recorder of Maricopa County.  He was elected in November 2020 and took office in January 2021. His office of approximately 150 employees records hundreds of thousands of public documents every year, maintains a voter registration database of 2.4 million voters -- the second largest voting jurisdiction in the United States -- and administers the mail voting component of all elections in Maricopa County. Prior to his time as Recorder, Stephen worked in various business sectors and, later, as an attorney at the law firms Steptoe & Johnson LLP and Lewis Roca LLP.  He holds a J.D. and M.A. from The University of Chicago and a B.A. from Tulane University.  He is completing his PhD at Arizona State University.

Adav Noti is Executive Director at Campaign Legal Center. He has conducted dozens of constitutional cases in trial and appellate courts and the United States Supreme Court. He also advises Members of Congress and other policymakers on advancing democracy through legislation. Prior to joining CLC, Adav served for more than 10 years in nonpartisan leadership capacities within the Office of General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission, and he served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Adav regularly provides expert analysis for television, radio, and print journalism. He has appeared on broadcasts such as The Rachel Maddow Show, Anderson Cooper 360, PBS NewsHour, and National Public Radio's Morning Edition, and he is regularly cited in publications nationwide, including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Politico, Slate, and Reuters.

Mia Hoffmann is a Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. Her research focuses on AI harm incidents, aiming to provide a deeper understanding of failure modes and the efficacy of risk mitigation practices. In recent work, she examined the uses of AI in US election administration and their risks to electoral integrity. Prior to joining CSET, Mia worked at the European Commission and as a researcher in Brussels, where she studied AI adoption and its implications. She holds a MS in Economics from Lund University and a BS in International Economics from the University of Tuebingen. 

Links:

How Artificial Intelligence Influences Elections, and What We Can Do About It - Campaign Legal Center

How 2024 presidential candidates are using AI inside their election campaigns - CNBC

Nonprofit group plans ad campaign using AI misinfo to fight AI misinfo - Politico

CLC Op-Ed Examines Artificial Intelligence Disinformation in Elections - Campaign Legal Center

Congress should pass bipartisan bills to safeguard elections from AI - Campaign Legal Center

About CLC:

Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization which advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process. Learn more about us.

Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Election certification has traditionally been a mostly symbolic process in the United States. You vote, your vote gets counted, your precinct and others get tallied together (“canvassed” is the term of art) and, within a few days, everyone looks at the counts and agrees on a winner. But lately, this banal, bland procedure has become a political flashpoint, as people who question the election process impose unrealistic requirements on certification — and, in some cases, outright refuse to certify elections, even when state law requires them to do so.

In another of this season’s up-to-the-minute episodes, we are speaking with Jonathan Diaz, a litigator and voting rights advocate at CLC, who joins Simone to explain how election certification is supposed to work, how it’s being taken advantage of by bad actors and what CLC and other good-government advocates are doing to push back and see that election laws are carried out.

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Jonathan Diaz is Director for Voting Advocacy and Partnerships at Campaign Legal Center. Jonathan helps lead CLC’s work on combating election manipulation and participates on behalf of CLC on a number of democracy reform coalitions, coordinating CLC's work with partner organizations at the national, state and local levels. He also litigates voting rights cases across the United States, including VoteAmerica v. Raffensperger (N.D.Ga.), LUCHA v. Fontes (D.Ariz.), and Raysor v. Lee (N.D.Fla./11th Cir./SCOTUS). Jonathan frequently provides commentary on voting rights and election law issues in the media; he has been quoted in publications including the New York Times, Miami Herald, and ProPublica, and has appeared on Univision, NPR, and CNN, where he was an election law analyst during the 2020 election cycle.

Links:

Letters of Guidance on Election Certification - Campaign Legal Center

What Happens To My Ballot After I Vote? - Campaign Legal Center

Machine Tabulation, Not Hand Counting, Should Be Used to Count Ballots - Campaign Legal Center

Can Georgia's Election Board Refuse to Certify Results? The Law Says No - Campaign Legal Center

Want Election Results Sooner? Allow Election Officials to Process Mail Ballots Early - Campaign Legal Center

The Courts Will Prevent Local Election Boards in Georgia from Disrupting the Certification of the Election, Officials Say - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC)

2025 Counting and Certification of Electoral Votes Designated National Security Event - U.S. Secret Service

About CLC:

Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization which advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process. Learn more about us.

Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

The peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of American democracy that sets the United States apart — the so-called north star of our electoral system. Yet the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 challenged that tradition profoundly. In the lead-up to this November, we answer the question that is on the minds of many voters: Will the months after this presidential election look like the aftermath of the last one?

Fortunately, lawmakers who were caught in the eye of that storm seized the opportunity to make updates to our election laws that were, by some accounts, about 150 years overdue. In 2021, Congress passed the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act, or ECRA, in an effort to curtail the tactics that bad actors could use to exploit the Electoral College and to define and streamline the procedures by which states count and certify election results.

Catie Kelley of CLC joins us to explain how an otherwise deeply divided Congress pulled together to pass this important law, and why the passage of this new law will help ensure that this presidential election goes much more smoothly than the last one.

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Catie Kelley is Senior Director for Policy & Strategic Partnerships at Campaign Legal Center. Previously, Catie built and ran CLC's state campaign finance program. In that capacity, she worked with state and local stakeholders and policymakers to advance innovative policies designed to decrease the influence of money in the political process. She began her legal career in the Federal Election Commission's Office of General Counsel. 

Links:

We Voted, Now What? How the President is Elected - Campaign Legal Center

Electing the President: From Election Day to the Joint Session - Campaign Legal Center

Enactments Relating to the Electoral Count Reform Act - National Conference of State Legislatures

Congress Passes ECRA to ward off another Jan 6th - NPR

Electoral Count Reform Act Makes It Harder to Undermine Presidential Elections - Campaign Legal Center

Congress Takes Historic Action to Update the Electoral Count Act - Campaign Legal Center

What the Electoral Count Reform Act Means for States - Campaign Legal Center

States Enact Important Legislation to Update Election Laws Ahead of Presidential Election - Campaign Legal Center

Bipartisan Arizona Law Makes Crucial Updates to Presidential Election Deadlines - Campaign Legal Center

About CLC:

Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization which advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process. Learn more about us.

Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Voter registration is the number one obstacle to voting in the United States. It should be easy, accessible and secure, but too often, states are moving backwards; making voter registration more difficult and less equitable. Here, we introduce a new type of episode: an up-to-the-minute interview with an expert to help you better understand some of the most important issues affecting elections. Danielle Lang, a voting rights attorney at CLC, joins Simone to explain why major actions in Arizona and Texas involve what should be a straightforward component of elections: voter registration.

Danielle explains voter purges, mass challenges to voter registrations, and their effects on voters. And she lays out actions that states and individuals alike can take to ensure registering to vote is safe and secure ahead of Election Day.

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Danielle Lang is Senior Director for Voting Rights at Campaign Legal Center. Danielle has worked as a civil rights litigator her entire career. At CLC, she has led litigation against Texas's racially discriminatory voter ID law, Florida's modern-day poll tax for rights restoration, Arizona's burdensome registration requirements, North Dakota's voter ID law targeting Native communities, and numerous successful challenges to signature match policies for absentee ballots. Previously, Danielle served as a Skadden Fellow in the Employment Rights Project of Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles, where she represented low-wage immigrant workers in wage and hour, discrimination, and human trafficking matters. From 2012 to 2013, Danielle clerked for Judge Richard A. Paez on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 

Links:

Frivolous Mass Challenges to Voter Eligibility Damaging to Democracy - Campaign Legal Center

Our Strict Laws Ensure Only U.S. Citizens Vote in Federal Elections - Campaign Legal Center

How To Prevent Unfair Voter Purges - Campaign Legal Center

Modernizing Voter Registration - Campaign Legal Center

What Does the U.S. Supreme Court’s Recent Arizona Decision Mean for Voters? - Campaign Legal Center

Texas Expands Push to Halt Democratic Voter Registration Efforts - Bloomberg Law

Tweet from Kyle Huddleston

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Bexar County Voter Registration Case - The New York Times

About CLC:

Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization which advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process. Learn more about us.

Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Election workers are the people in your neighborhood. They’re our friends, neighbors and co-workers who help keep American democracy safe and secure... But in 2020, many of them were maligned, harassed and threatened in battleground states — the targets of bad actors who sought to sow distrust in the electoral process.

How can we better protect and support the many dedicated civil servants and volunteers who provide such crucial work? The thousands of election workers who will staff this November's election are the front line of security and safety for voters. The processes they help carry out have been practiced and refined across nearly three centuries of American elections. Attacks on election workers are a threat to a functional democracy.

In this episode, we talk with Kristina and Steve Reisinger — a wife and husband in eastern Pennsylvania who found a community in their local polling place and were inspired to volunteer. And we also speak with Kelsey Rogers, CLC's senior manager for state advocacy, about the threats being faced by election workers in recent years and the steps some states are taking to protect them. 

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Stephen Reisinger served 4 years in the USMC in Infantry and MP from 1992 to 1996. He attended Carpentry School for 4 years, graduating in 2005. He is the 3rd generation owner of the general construction company that focuses on Public Works and historic restoration. He worked as a field carpenter and superintendent until 2014. In 2017, he moved into project management and purchased the business in October of that year. 

Kristina Reisinger has been an educator for over 30 years, almost all of them at an independent school, Benchmark School in Media. She taught 7th grade Language Arts and Science for most of that time. In 2020, she stepped into administration but quickly soured on all the “office/meeting” work and argued her case to transform her position into that of Instructional Coach so that she could be an “in the trenches” mentor/facilitator working with the students and staff. The kids call her position a “teacher of teachers.” During the summer camp, she is the director of all academic classes.

Kelsey Rogers is Senior Manager for State Advocacy at Campaign Legal Center. Before joining CLC, Kelsey spent seven years at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, where she helped states across the country pass meaningful gun violence prevention legislation. In her previous roles, Kelsey also worked for the communications and legal departments of Brady. She got her start in politics by volunteering and running student chapters of the Obama for America campaign in 2008 and 2012.

Links:

Who Are Election Officials, and What Do They Do? – Campaign Legal Center

States Should Protect Everyday Americans Who Safeguard Our Democracy – Campaign Legal Center

Election Workers Deserve to Feel Safe. Nevada is Taking Action – Campaign Legal Center

Michigan's elections chief wants to protect voters, poll workers and democracy itself – NPR

State Laws Providing Protection for Election Officials and Staff – National Conference of State Legislatures

About CLC:

Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization which advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process. Learn more about us.

Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.