State legislators, local administrators, and advocates must strengthen and clarify election processes, preempt disinformation, and enact stronger measures against intimidation.

For decades, the federal government used its grant-making power to spur states to incarcerate more people and to impose longer sentences. It should now use that power to reverse course.

To ensure that elections remain peaceful, states must ban guns at places where votes are cast and counted and enact stronger anti-intimidation laws.

Officials too often distort research for political gain. Legislatures and agencies can push back by establishing standards for evidence-based policymaking, protections for scientists, and executive branch watchdogs.