Our Issues

Voting is the most basic right in our democracy, but people still face many barriers to the process. The Brennan Center is fighting on every front through legislative advocacy, litigation, and cutting-edge research to ensure that all eligible Americans can cast a ballot.

Conducting fair elections requires secure systems and independent administration of the casting and counting of votes. That’s why the Brennan Center advocates for a comprehensive plan to upgrade technology and safeguard election integrity, including the protection of election officials from harassment and political interference.

Voters are supposed to choose candidates. But when lawmakers draw district lines to entrench one party’s political power, some votes count more than others. The Brennan Center’s solutions: independent redistricting commissions in every state and legal protections against extreme gerrymandering.

Americans are fed up with the role of big money in political campaigns. The Brennan Center’s solution: small donor public financing to put power back in the hands of individuals.

Our courts should be bulwarks to protect civil rights, democratic values, and the rule of law, but more and more, the promise of even-handed justice is at risk. We are fighting back with bold solutions for judicial reform.

The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, yet nearly 25 percent of its prisoners. Mass incarceration has crushing consequences — racial, economic, social — and it doesn’t make us safer. The Brennan Center creates innovative solutions, driven by data, to end mass incarceration.

Security and freedom go together. The Brennan Center confronts abuses of executive power and works for national security policies that ensure Americans’ safety while protecting our rights to privacy, free speech, and government transparency.

Our government was designed to withstand the influence of corrupt officials, a recalcitrant Congress, and excessive presidential authority. But without constant attention to those guardrails, the norms of democracy are threatened.

The Constitution was designed to change with the times, while preserving the promise of justice, equality, and liberty for all. The Brennan Center is dedicated to making sure it does just that.