In recent years, American elections have come under unprecedented attack. Election offices and political campaigns have been targeted by cyber attacks; election officials have faced a surge of harassment and intimidation; and coordinated campaigns of disinformation about how elections are administered have precipitated a crisis of trust. Disinformation and misinformation have also been used to suppress voter participation, particularly targeting communities of color. 

The democratizing power of the internet creates new opportunities — but also new threats — to support fair, informed, and trustworthy elections. During the 2024 election cycle, widely available artificial intelligence tools have heightened concerns about information integrity and cybersecurity. Despite these trends, 2020 elections in the U.S. were considered the most secure election in American history while also experiencing the highest turnout of any U.S. election to boot.

CDT has worked for almost a decade to improve the security and accessibility of America’s election systems, recently expanding our work to address the crisis of trust in American democracy. We work to address election-related mis- and disinformation, online voter suppression, and support election security and administration through our work with election officials, online platforms, legislators, and other stakeholders.