Center for Secure and Modern Elections

Center for Secure and Modern Elections
Name	Center for Secure and Modern Elections
Formation	2019
Type	Nonprofit organization
Headquarters	United States
Leader title	Executive Director

Center for Secure and Modern Elections is a nonprofit organization focused on election integrity, election administration, and election technology in the United States. It engages with election officials, policymakers, courts, and the public on issues related to voting systems, cybersecurity, and election law. The organization operates at the intersection of policy advocacy, technical assistance, and legal strategy.

Background and mission

The organization was founded amid heightened attention to the 2016 United States presidential election, 2018 United States midterm elections, and the contested aftermath of the 2020 United States presidential election. Its stated mission emphasizes support for secure voting procedures, post-election audits, and modernization of voting technology, drawing on practices associated with Help America Vote Act of 2002, National Association of Secretaries of State, and recommendations from panels such as the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. The Center positions itself in relation to stakeholders including Election Assistance Commission, Brennan Center for Justice, Verified Voting Foundation, and state-level offices like the Michigan Secretary of State and the Georgia Secretary of State.

Governance and leadership

The board and senior staff include former officials, attorneys, and election administration experts with experience in contexts such as Federal Election Commission, Department of Justice (United States), and state election offices like Texas Secretary of State and Arizona Secretary of State (2015–2019). Leadership biographies often reference prior roles with institutions such as Bipartisan Policy Center, Brennan Center for Justice, Lawfare, and academic affiliations with Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford Law School, and Yale Law School. Advisory board members have included participants in initiatives linked to National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, and international electoral bodies like the Organization of American States and the European Union Election Observation Mission.

Programs and initiatives

Programs emphasize risk-limiting audits, voting machine certification, poll worker training, and public education campaigns. Initiatives reference standards from bodies such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Election Assistance Commission. The Center runs pilot projects modeled after practices from Colorado Secretary of State and Georgia Secretary of State (2019–2023), collaborates on litigation strategies akin to cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and supports legislation similar to proposals in the United States Congress and state legislatures like the California State Legislature and the New York State Assembly.

Research and publications

The Center publishes reports, white papers, and toolkits addressing topics comparable to analyses produced by Brennan Center for Justice, Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and RAND Corporation. Research outputs include assessments of voting system vulnerabilities, comparisons of paper-ballot practices used in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington (state), and legal reviews referencing influences from cases in the Supreme Court of the United States and appellate decisions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Publications cite standards from National Institute of Standards and Technology and methodologies similar to those in reports by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Partnerships and funding

The Center partners with election offices, universities, and nonprofit organizations such as Verified Voting Foundation, Brennan Center for Justice, National Vote at Home Institute, League of Women Voters of the United States, and academic centers at Georgetown University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Funding sources reported in public filings have included foundations in the tradition of Carnegie Corporation of New York, MacArthur Foundation, and regional funders active in civic technology; the organization has also received grants comparable to those awarded by Knight Foundation and programmatic support resembling contracts with state agencies like the California Secretary of State. Collaborations extend to technical partners with backgrounds tied to SANS Institute, Internet Research Task Force, and cybersecurity firms whose personnel have testified before Congress and committees such as the United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.

Impact and controversies

Supporters point to the Center’s role in advancing audits, voter-verifiable paper trail practices, and training that echoes reforms in Colorado and Arizona. Critics and some partisan actors have questioned the organization’s positions amid disputes after the 2020 United States presidential election and in debates involving legislative actions by bodies such as the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the Michigan Legislature. Controversies have included scrutiny over grant acceptance consistent with debates around nonprofit influence seen in discussions involving Philanthropy New York and governance issues noted in reporting by outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post. Legal and policy disputes have at times paralleled cases adjudicated in the Supreme Court of the United States and federal appellate courts.

Category:Nonprofit organizations based in the United States Category:Elections in the United States