Election Reformers Network aims to end partisan and insider control over elections. Favoring neither the left nor the right, we lead a U.S. movement to ensure that country comes first, not party.
Fair, functioning democracy is important
A range of powerful forces act together to make America an increasingly divided country. These influences are woven into the core elements of our life: from social media algorithms that incentivize anger, to 24-hour news cycles that retain viewers by amplifying a false dichotomy of far left and far right.
Even where and with whom people choose to live can become a political matter. No one person or side is to blame, but we have everything to lose if we don’t strengthen the core institutions of our nation to withstand this new polarizing reality.
Polarization is worsened by an archaic set of election rules left over from a bygone political era. We place parties in charge of everything from voting rules, to district lines, to election oversight. These practices overrepresent the extremes and discourage common ground.
Meanwhile, peer democracies have innovated, upgrading election systems to require impartiality, encourage compromise, reduce conflicts of interest, and sustain broad participation and trust. Evidence-based solutions exist; we only need the will to implement them.
Rising polarization colliding against outdated and hyper-partisan systems could soon lead to a complete breakdown in American democracy.
No system can ever be all things to all people, but we won’t make headway on any of the issues Americans care about until we move past polarization and operate within an impartial, trusted, fair governance system. America’s democratic republic relies on an election ecosystem that works – for today, tomorrow, and the next generation.
What’s new and noteworthy at ERN
America’s election rules let partisan officials act as referees. Learn why this hidden conflict of interest threatens trust—and what reforms can fix it.
California’s Prop 50 shows why fair redistricting matters. A few more seats won’t save democracy if the system itself stays rigged.
Follow ERN's new Substack, The Guardrail, for news, updates, commentary, and more!
Explore how voters across the political spectrum united to defend citizen ballot initiatives in the 2024 election. Download the Election Reformers Network's latest report on protecting direct democracy.
Citizen-initiated ballot measures have emerged as a critical political battlefield in the United States. This groundbreaking report identifies the abuses by legislative and executive powers to the ballot initiative process and details remedies for partisan meddling.
This collection of model legislation offers a starting point for state lawmakers and advocates interested in drafting reforms to strengthen elections and democratic institutions. Models feature ethics legislation, qualification thresholds for senior election officials, and a task force study bill.
ERN in the media: One of the most important things to remember as we approach election day is that in 2020 our election institutions held, despite unprecedented threats, and they’ve been reinforced since.
The National Steering Committee on Trusted Elections issued a public statement regarding the 2024 election outcomes, honoring candidates who conceded with grace, commending election officials who managed a fair process, and urging newly elected leaders to protect our country’s institutions and system of Constitutional checks and balances.
