Electoral systems

ACLU Pledges $50M for Midterms, Half for Ballot Oversight

Is this pledge a vital shield for democracy or a foreign-funded threat to election integrity?

Published 3 days ago

ACLU Pledges $50M for Midterms, Half for Ballot Oversight

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Above: Stickers from ACLU South Carolina during a rally in Columbia, South Carolina, on May 14. Image credit: Sean Rayford/Getty Images

The Spin

Democratic narrative

The ACLU's $24.5 million election safeguarding program is exactly what democracy needs right now. Voter suppression is real, coordinated and targets Black voters specifically — and over 80 active legal actions prove the threat isn't hypothetical. Training 10,000 volunteers and mobilizing affiliates in all 50 states ensures that when officials try to rig the rules, there's an organized, legal force ready to stop them.

American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union

Republican narrative

An organization bankrolled by nearly $20 million in foreign funding, including from a Swiss billionaire, has no business positioning itself as America's election guardian. The ACLU sued Texas for $450,000 just for trying to remove non-citizens from voter rolls — actively blocking legitimate election integrity efforts. Courts have already declined to stop Trump's mail-in voting order, signaling that the ACLU's legal crusade isn't the slam dunk it's marketed as.

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