Dear friends,
As the midterm elections wrap up, I want to thank you for your support, share reflections on the year, and invite you to look ahead with us as we plan for 2024 — Verified Voting’s 20th year working for voters — doing the essential work required to function as a thriving democracy.
Verified Voting has always advocated for policies and practices that ensure secure and resilient elections. We’ve seen significant improvements nationwide, particularly in our advocacy for paper ballots and post election audits, but crucial areas of improvement remain. Voting technology and security profoundly impact the trust voters have in election outcomes and by virtue of that, our democracy. Voters want to know that equipment won’t fail them, and that they can have legitimate, justified confidence that their voices will be heard.
We’re listening, and responding with advocacy, data, tools and direct support to election officials navigating the increasingly fraught election administration terrain. This election cycle, Verified Voting’s audit team has been working on the ground in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas. We have been supporting the implementation of risk-limiting audits, staffing virtual “office hours” for election officials nation-wide, collaborating with partner grass-roots organizations on election protection efforts, and serving as trusted experts to journalists seeking to cut through mis- and disinformation.
This year we saw the unprecedented weaponization of voting equipment disinformation. Sorting fact from fiction is essential — we’ve witnessed bad actors continuing to use routine administrative issues to claim instances of election fraud, which could lead to even more restrictive voting legislation in states. Reporters lean heavily on Verified Voting, reaching out not just about election technology, but for our take on disinformation, election deniers, and the resiliency of elections. In the first half of November, Verified Voting was mentioned in more than 650 news stories. We heard from many reporters that we played an integral role in their reporting, and how grateful they were to our spokespeople and for our data-driven resources.
Verified Voting’s recent strategic planning process reaffirmed our commitment to voters. Our vision is that all voters are able to cast an effective ballot without barriers; that voters can have justified confidence that their votes were counted as cast; and that ultimately, foundational democratic principles are upheld. With your generosity the work continues. If you’ve already made your gift of support, thank you—we couldn’t do all we do without your partnership. If you haven’t given yet, thank you for considering a gift to support strengthening democracy for all voters this holiday season.
With gratitude,
Pamela Smith
President & CEO, Verified Voting