The States United Democracy Center is a left-leaning election law organization that was founded in 2020 as the Voter Protection Program (not to be confused the Voter Protection Project, another left-leaning election advocacy organization). The organization was founded as one of many organizing coalitions and left-leaning strategy groups to coordinate left-leaning advocacy groups and Democratic campaign committees in the event that then-President Donald Trump lost and subsequently contested the results of the 2020 Presidential Election. The organization was founded by Norm Eisen, a left-leaning lawyer who served as the “Ethics Czar” in the Obama White House. ^{1 2}

Following the 2020 election, Voter Protection Program rebranded as the States United Democracy Center.^{3 4} The organization has opposed Republican-led efforts to adopt election-related legislation such as voter identification laws and has supported efforts to bar January 6th demonstrators from running for office.^{5 6} The group also operates a lobbying arm called States United Action.⁷

Background

Norm Eisen founded the Voter Protection Program by recruiting an ostensibly bipartisan board of prominent individuals and retired politicians. The organization was mentioned in a February 2021 Time article that celebrated a joint campaign by corporate executives, labor union leaders, and Democratic Party operatives who anticipated that in the event of a loss, that President Donald Trump would fight the results of the election, pointing to his criticism of mail-in ballots and other election mechanisms throughout the campaign. The coalition challenged Trump’s push for recounts following alleged delays and discrepancies in the 2020 election results and urged left-leaning advocacy groups and organizers to not stage protests in the days following the election. The article identified Eisen as a recruiter for the Voter Protection Program, an organization created to shut down President Trump’s efforts to contest the election outcome. ⁸

Activity

Following the 2020 election, the States United Democracy Center organized a team of lawyers to oppose challenges to the election results and in January 2021 released a legal memo detailing the organization’s stance that Vice President Mike Pence had no constitutional authority to reject slates of electors. ⁹

The organization opposed Republican-led state-level election integrity legislation and supported the Democratic-led For the People Act, which included a variety of left-leaning election policies that would be instituted nationally. The organization also opposed the audit of 2020 election results in Arizona and opposes similar plans for audits in Wisconsin, calling them “scam election review attempts.”¹⁰

The organization has worked alongside the left-of-center Brennan Center for Justice in opposing a variety of Republican-backed election administration laws and proposals. Joanna Lydgate, the group’s co-founder and CEO, “specified that restrictive bills introduced over the past two years touch every aspect of current voting systems” and asserted that “legislators are kind of trying to take control over practically every step of the electoral process.”¹¹

The group has also voiced support for efforts to bar January 6th protesters from running for office through proposed legislation in several states that would “prohibit anyone convicted of participating in an insurrection from holding public office or a position of public trust, such as becoming a police officer.”¹²

In March 2023, the group praised the indictment of former President Donald Trump by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.¹³

People

Joanna Lydgate is the president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the States United Democracy Center as of April 2024. Lydgate graduated from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and served as the Deputy Attorney General of Massachusetts. ¹⁴

Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Williams is a co-founder and the board co-chair for the States United Democracy Center. Other board members of the organization include former Montana Governor Steve Bullock (D), former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge (R), former Massachusetts Governor and Libertarian Vice-Presidential Candidate Bill Weld (R), former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele, Obama Administration Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, as well as several former state attorneys general, among others. ¹⁵

Financials

According to its 2022 990 form, the organization reported a revenue of $14,524,982, expenses of $9,282,181, and total assets of $8,757,900. ¹⁶

Funding

In 2021, the States United Democracy Center received a series of grants from center-left organizations including $100,000 from the Merle Chambers Fund ¹⁷ and roughly $2,025,776 from The Leadership Center for Attorney General Studies, ¹⁸

In 2022, the organization also received grants from center-left groups including $1,000,000 from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, ¹⁹ $1.6 million from the Hopewell Fund, ²⁰ and $250k from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. ²¹

1. “About Us.” States United Democracy Fund. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/about-us/
2. “Our Story.” States United Democracy Fund. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/about-us/our-story/
3. “About Us.” States United Democracy Fund. Accessed October 20, 2021. https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/about-us/
4. “About Us.” States United Democracy Fund. Accessed October 20, 2021. https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/about-us/our-story/
5. Khan, Maysoon. “Lawmakers seek to prohibit insurrectionists from holding public office.” PBS News Hour. January 22, 2023. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/lawmakers-seek-to-prohibit-insurrectionists-from-holding-public-office
6. Murray, Isabella. “GOP-led voting changes are on the rise, making elections more vulnerable to meddling, many analysts say.” ABC News. September 20, 2022. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/gop-led-voting-rise-making-elections-vulnerable-meddling/story?id=89408633
7. “States United Action.” States United Democracy Fund. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/states-united-action/
8. Molly Ball, “The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election,” Time, February 4, 2021. Accessed October 20, 2021. https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
9. Cohen, Andew. “States United: Berkeley Connection at New Bipartisan Center Protects Democracy and Election Integrity.” Berkeley Law. Accessed October 21, 2021. https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/states-united-berkeley-connection-at-new-bipartisan-center-protects-democracy-and-election-integrity/
10. “Election Protection.” States United Democracy Fund. Accessed April 17, 2023.  https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/our-work/election-protection/
11. Murray, Isabella. “GOP-led voting changes are on the rise, making elections more vulnerable to meddling, many analysts say.” ABC News. September 20, 2022. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/gop-led-voting-rise-making-elections-vulnerable-meddling/story?id=89408633
12. Khan, Maysoon. “Lawmakers seek to prohibit insurrectionists from holding public office.” PBS News Hour. January 22, 2023. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/lawmakers-seek-to-prohibit-insurrectionists-from-holding-public-office
13. “Accountability for Donald Trump.” States United Democracy Center. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/accountability-donald-trump/
14. “Our Team.” States United Democracy Fund. Accessed April 16, 2024. https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/our-team/
15.  “Our Team.” States United Democracy Fund. Accessed October 20, 2021.  https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/about-us/our-team/
16. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). States United Democracy Center. 2022. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/861704152/202343149349302634/full
17. “2022 ANNUAL REPORT GRANTEES.” Merle Chambers Fund, Accessed April 16, 2024. https://chambersfund.org/annual-reports/grantees/
18. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). The Leadership Center for Attorney General Studies. 2021. Schedule I, Part II. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/843726976/202243199349310519/IRS990ScheduleI
19. “Grantee: States United Democracy Center Inc.” David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Accessed April 16, 2024. https://www.packard.org/grantee/states-united-democracy-center-inc/
20. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Hopewell Fund. 2022. Schedule I, Part II. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/473681860/202333149349300038/IRS990ScheduleI
21. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. 2022. Schedule I, Part II. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/941655673/202343179349104459/IRS990PF