Press Release: How State Legislatures Can Strengthen Election Integrity and Security
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gaby Goldstein, President, State Futures
Press Release: How State Legislatures Can Strengthen Election Integrity and Security
New Resource from State Futures and the Brennan Center Details How State Legislatures Can Act as Federal Infrastructure Erodes
JANUARY 6, 2026 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the nation heads into an unprecedented election year marked by escalating threats to election administration and a dramatic federal retreat from election security, a new issue brief released today by State Futures and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law provides an urgent roadmap for how state legislatures can protect election integrity, defend election workers, and preserve public trust in democracy.
The issue brief, How State Legislators Can Protect Election Integrity and Security, comes at a critical moment. States have long borne primary responsibility for administering and securing elections, but recent cuts to federal cybersecurity support, the defunding of national information-sharing networks, weakened deterrence against election threats, and new federal efforts to interfere directly in state election administration have stripped away key layers of coordination, resources, and backup that states and local officials have relied on for years.
“We are heading into a high-risk election cycle with states doing the same core work they have always done — but with far less federal support behind them,” said Gaby Goldstein, President of State Futures. “State legislators are central to ensuring elections remain secure, fair, and functional. This brief is a practical playbook for how lawmakers can use their authority to meet that responsibility at a moment of heightened risk.”
The brief documents a rapidly deteriorating federal election security landscape, including reductions in election security staffing and services at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA); the elimination of funding for national information-sharing networks; weakened accountability for election-related threats and intimidation; and new executive actions signaling direct federal interference in voting systems, mail voting, and election administration.
Drawing on real-world examples from across the country, the resource outlines concrete steps legislators can take now, including:
Protecting voting systems through access controls, chain-of-custody requirements, robust testing, and risk-limiting audits;
Defending election workers from threats, harassment, and doxing, and strengthening penalties for intimidation;
Replacing lost federal support by funding state-level cybersecurity tools, election security navigator programs, and interagency response teams;
Using oversight and investigations to expose interference, demand transparency, and build public trust; and
Exercising public leadership to counter misinformation and reassure voters.
The brief is intended as a practical, nonpartisan resource for lawmakers across chambers and parties who recognize that secure, trusted elections are foundational to democratic governance.
Read the full issue brief: How State Legislators Can Protect Election Integrity and Security
About State Futures
State Futures is a national nonprofit supporting a growing network of more than 650 values-aligned state legislators and State Financial Officers across the country. State Futures facilitates cross-state collaboration on democracy and elections, labor, health care, immigration and capital strategies, supporting both rapid-response coordination and long-term policy working groups. For more information, visit https://www.statefutures.org.
About the Brennan Center for Justice
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute working to reform, revitalize — and when necessary, defend — the nation’s systems of democracy and justice. The Brennan Center focuses on voting rights, election security, campaign finance reform, and protecting constitutional democracy through research, advocacy, and litigation. For more information, visit https://www.brennancenter.org/
Media Contact:
Gaby Goldstein, President, State Futures
Email: gaby@statefutures.org
Website: www.statefutures.org
