What happened this week in Georgia should concern anyone who believes our democracy depends on elections that are fair, final, and respected.
Federal agents seized hundreds of boxes of ballots from the Fulton County election center. These ballots came from the 2020 election, a race that was counted, checked, challenged in court, and officially certified. Donald Trump lost that election.
There was no new evidence and no finding of fraud that led to this action. What changed was the decision by the US Department of Justice, working alongside the FBI, to reach into a local election system years after the fact and reopen questions that had already been settled under the law.
That is a serious escalation. It signals a willingness to exert federal power to challenge election results long after voters have spoken and courts have ruled. That strikes at the basic promise of democracy: that elections mean something, and that their outcomes are not endlessly up for grabs when powerful people dislike the result.
Georgia is not the only warning sign.
Just days earlier, Attorney General Pam Bondi demanded that Minnesota turn over private voter information including driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. Minnesota refused, citing the Constitution and court decisions that make clear the federal government does not have the authority to collect this data. That demand, too, reflects a dangerous escalation to press the limits of federal power over elections.
At the same time, Republicans spent much of last year redrawing congressional districts in an attempt to protect their political advantage before a single vote is cast in the 2026 midterms.
Taken together, these actions represent a real threat to our democracy. They test whether certified election results can be challenged indefinitely, whether voter data can be centralized and misused, and whether elections can be shaped in advance to limit the will of voters.
The good news is that these actions can be challenged. Courts matter. States matter. Public pressure matters. But none of that works automatically. It requires sustained, organized effort.
That is why your support is so important right now.
Defending democracy at this stage means being ready before the next escalation, not scrambling afterward. It means monitoring these moves as they happen, pushing back quickly when lines are crossed, supporting election officials and states that are under pressure, and making sure the public understands what is at stake while challenges are still possible.
That work does not happen without resources.
That is why we are asking you to join Defenders of Democracy as a monthly supporter.
Monthly giving is what allows us to maintain the capacity to do this work every day. It funds the legal analysis, rapid response, research, and organizing needed to confront these threats as they arise. Without sustained support, even strong legal and civic arguments struggle to keep pace with an administration willing to test democratic limits again and again.
The future of our democracy will not be decided in one moment. It will be shaped by whether people are willing to invest, consistently, in defending it.
If you believe elections should be decided by voters and upheld by the rule of law, now is the time to act.
