As the United States prepares for a presidential election year, the Center for American Progress (CAP) has published a new report that provides guidance on some of the significant issues impacting the election process. The report, entitled "8 Ways To Protect American Democracy," offers specific recommendations that states, election officials, and the public can adopt to safeguard the integrity of the election process and tackle systemic problems.
Greta Bedekovics, associate director of democracy policy at CAP and co-author of the report, expressed her concerns about the current state of American democracy. "American democracy is at a crossroads," she said in a press release. "The nation must take collective action to restore faith in America’s elections and democratic institutions or risk continuing down a path of conspiracy theories toward violence and autocracy."
According to a CAP press release, the report advocates for creating public awareness campaigns centered on election procedures. These include finalizing election results or highlighting changes in voter registration procedures. The report also proposes measures to prevent violence against election officials and workers. Such measures could include banning firearms at voting locations and strengthening protections of the election certification process to prevent subversion.
The CAP press release further indicates that the report recommends solutions to address systemic election issues. These include enacting federal and state laws to protect voting rights and preserving state ballot measure processes. It also suggests establishing a government-operated webpage to provide up-to-date election results to the public.
Rebecca Mears, co-author of the report and director of Democracy at CAP, emphasized in her statement that addressing these issues is essential for healing divisions within America. "To heal our country, America must stop treating election concerns with stop-gap measures and start addressing the systemic harms rotting away the foundations of our democracy," Mears said.