Defending democracy doesn’t start or stop with an election

With eight weeks to go until Election Day 2024, we find ourselves once again in an unprecedented political moment. The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and the emergence of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee have both turbocharged an already momentous election and contributed to our collective sense of political instability. While the headlines focus on the candidates during the home stretch of their campaigns, our attention must be simultaneously rooted in something more fundamental—the health of the underlying democratic institutions that make free and fair elections possible.