Election workers are unsung heroes, ensuring behind the scenes that our elections run smoothly and securely. Yet many people don’t fully grasp what their job entails, leaving room for election deniers to spread misinformation. This lack of understanding has fueled a disturbing rise in threats, intimidation, and abuse against election officials since 2020.

This live panel was moderated by the Brennan Center’s Natalie Tennant, former secretary of state of West Virginia, and it featured Adrian Fontes, secretary of state of Arizona; Brenda Cabrera, former director of elections for Fairfax, Virginia; and Brianna Lennon, country clerk of Boone County, Missouri. They shared their day-to-day challenges and the vital role that they play in ensuring in free and fair elections in a time of increased misinformation. It was recorded on September 19, 2024.

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Efforts to undermine trust in elections, marked by disinformation campaigns and attempts to overturn results, have surged. A new book, Our Nation at Risk, exposes how these assaults on election integrity pose a serious threat to national security. Featuring perspectives from leading political scientists, historians, and legal experts, it explores the escalation of these threats and presents concrete solutions to address them.

Listen to a recording of our virtual discussion on how to fortify our election systems and rebuild confidence in the fairness of the democratic process from our expert panel:

Julian E. Zelizer, Editor, Our Nation at Risk: Election Integrity as a National Security Issue; Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs, Princeton University

Kareem Crayton, Vice President for Washington, DC, Brennan Center for Justice

Trevor W. Morrison, Eric M. and Laurie B. Roth Professor of Law, Dean Emeritus, NYU School of Law

Moderator: Karen J. Greenberg, Editor, Our Nation at Risk: Election Integrity as a National Security Issue; Director, Center on National Security at Fordham Law

It was recorded on September 17, 2024.

You can find the book here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/our-nation-at-risk-election-integrity-as-a-national-security-issue-julian-e-zelizer/20620408?ean=9781479830916

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Cities, states, and counties across the nation have curbed the use of money bail. Reformers say that jailing criminal defendants who can’t afford to buy their pretrial freedom punishes poverty. Opponents, however, blamed the uptick in crime during the Covid-19 pandemic on bail reform and pushed to roll back the changes. So what’s the truth — did bail reform cause an increase in crime?

Terry-Ann Craigie, associate professor of economics at Smith College and economics fellow in the Brennan Center’s Justice Program, and Ames Grawert, senior counsel in the Brennan Center’s Justice Program, compared crime rates in cities that enacted bail reforms with those that did not. In the broadest and most comprehensive study of this issue to date, they found no evidence that efforts to limit bail and pretrial detention increased crime. Ultimately, there are more promising ways to lower crime than to attack and weaken bail reform.

Listen to this discussion from August 15, with Brennan Center experts exploring crime trends in cities that did and did not limit bail, the possible unintended consequences of some reforms, and more effective ways to bolster public safety.

Speakers:

• Ames Grawert, Senior Counsel, Brennan Center Justice Program

• Terry-Ann Craigie, Associate Professor of Economics, Smith College; Economics Fellow, Brennan Center Justice Program

• Moderator: Mireya Navarro, Editor in Chief, Brennan en español

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You can read the report here: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/bail-reform-and-public-safety

You can keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing