“The Protection of the 2020 Election: The View from the Biden-Harris Campaign”

Bob Bauer and Dana Remus on lessons learned:

With the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris only days away, there is value in reflecting once again on the extraordinary strength and resilience of American democracy. The shocking events of January 6, 2021 have prompted a stalwart defense of our  electoral process throughout government and the leadership of  business, religious and other communities. It has focused attention, as it should, on how we should see the 2020 elections—as an extraordinary achievement. 

As familiar as they may be, , the  statistics frame the story. More than 158 million Americans voted, representing nearly two-thirds of eligible voters.  Measured as a percentage of the voting-eligible population, voter turnout reached the highest level since 1900.  This was true throughout the country.  Every single state, and 98% of the nation’s counties, saw higher turnout than in 2016.  Forty-one states had the highest turnout of any election in the past 50 years.    

But the outcome could have been disastrously different. Not since the Civil War has this country’s electoral process been subject to such overwhelming and potentially crushing pressures:  a once-in-a-century public health crisis, a deluge of both domestic and foreign  disinformation, and a divisive politics reflected in legal battles over voting rights. Across the country, these upheavals put exceptional strains on voting systems that are already chronically underfunded and fragile.  

In our roles leading the Biden presidential campaign legal team, we were charged with developing a voter protection program adapted to these exceptional circumstances.  In more ordinary times, voter protection programs facilitate access to the polls, monitor for and challenge unlawful or groundless burdens on voting rights, and support election officials in their hard work of preparing for and conducting the voting process.  These tasks were as important as ever this cycle, but they were far from sufficient.  We quickly recognized that the 2020 program would require vastly greater resources and different approaches than in past cycles. Campaign Manager Jen O’Malley Dillon, a veteran of the Obama-Biden presidential campaign voter protection programs, assigned the highest priority to this work.  Together, we determined the urgent priorities to be…

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