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National Election Defense Coalition (NEDC)

Website:

www.electiondefense.org/
Type:

Election Policy Advocacy Group
Formation:

2013
President:

Ben Ptashnik

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National Election Defense Coalition (NEDC) opposes what it perceives as a Republican effort, influenced by former President Donald Trump, to oppose to fair and free elections. It favors of election reforms that would lead to widespread vote by mail, frequent and standardized election recounts, and opposition to what it deems “voter suppression.”

Background and Beliefs

National Election Defense Coalition was formed in 2013 to improve American election security. 1 NEDC is fiscally sponsored by Psephos, a 501(c)(3) organization. 2

NEDC’s website declares “the United States is a Democratic Republic, not a Fascist Theocracy.” It describes itself as standing in “unwavering opposition to the far-right extremism that was galvanized by Donald Trump” and is now influencing the Republican Party to commit “coordinated attacks” against racial and gender minorities as well as “democracy itself.” 3

NEDC claims that “voter suppression” is rising in America due to Republican Party leadership allegedly propagating the “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was compromised due to malfeasance or tampering. It calls on “all people” to oppose what it perceives to be false conspiracy theories, extremism, and rhetoric that is opposed to human and civil rights. 4

In addition to defending the legitimacy of the 2020 election, the NEDC also opposes the influence of religion on the public sphere and what it sees as oppression by organized religions. 5

NEDC claims to be bipartisan and says that it partners with liberal nonprofits as well as “conservative national security organizations.” 6 Its official partners are said to include Americans for Tax Reform, the Brennan Center for Justice, the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School, Coalition for Good Governance, Common Cause, Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Michigan Election Reform Alliance (MERA), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), OSET Institute, Public Citizen, Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Protect Democracy, Rainbow Push, Represent.US, R Street, Securing [sic] Democracy, Stand Up America, Stand Up Republic, Transformative Justice Coalition, and Verified Voting. 7

Advocacy

National Election Defense Coalition calls for new federal grants and oversight committees to “safeguard vulnerable state voting infrastructure” and to pay for paper ballots and “non-partisan” audits. It claims there is “bipartisan support” for these measures, but that they have been delayed by “the battle for political advantage in coming elections.” 8

NEDC advocates for the passing of the Freedom to Vote Act, a bill that was introduced by Democrats in 2021 and re-introduced in July 2023 by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Michael Bennet (D-CO), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), and others. 9 10 Among the provisions that NEDC singled out as praiseworthy were the bill’s introduction of federal protections to insulate election officials “from undue partisan interference or control,” new regulations for ballot and voting systems, rules for post-election audits, grants for purchasing new voting systems and cybersecurity improvements, new cybersecurity standards, and standards for manufacturing and assembling voting machines. 11

NEDC “applauded” the work of Business for America and other nonprofits in securing support from several major corporations in for new voting rights. The signatories included Apple, Amazon, Airbnb, Ben & Jerry’s, ECOS, HP, Google, Intel, Levi’s, PayPal, Target, Lyft, Microsoft, Tesla, and Zoom. 12

Despite the fact that NEDC repeatedly states its support for audits for elections, it condemned Republican calls for audits of the 2020 election. NEDC characterized such audits as “hyper partisan,” “phony” and an “assault on democracy” for failing to meet “basic procedural standards.” 13

Leadership

Former Vermont state senator Ben Ptashnik is governor of the National Election Defense Coalition, as well as its board chairman. Ptashnik co-founded NEDC along with board secretary Victoria Collier, a left-of-center activist. Other board members included president and founder of Transformative Justice Coalition Barbara R. Arnwine, chairman of GroSolar Jeff Wolfe, executive committee member of the North Carolina NAACP Rodney Sadler, founding member of the Michigan Election Reform Alliance (MERA) Jan BenDor, and Nancy Price, co-chair of Alliance for Democracy. 14

Advisory board members include Alex Halderman, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan; and Jason Smith, director of the documentary I Voted?; and Kirstin Mueller, election security chair of League of Women Voters Washington. 15

References

  1. “About.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/about.
  2. “About.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/about.
  3. “National Election Defense Coalition.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/.
  4. “National Election Defense Coalition.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/.
  5. “National Election Defense Coalition.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/.
  6. “About.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/about.
  7. “About.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/about.
  8. “National Election Defense Coalition.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/.
  9. “S.2747 – Freedom to Vote Act.” Congress.gov, 2021-2022. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2747.
  10. “Press Releases.” Michael Bennet – U.S. Senator for Colorado. July 21, 2023. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?id=FA7F38E1-EA34-464F-945D-9F8A127F194C.
  11. “National Election Defense Coalition.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/.
  12. “National Election Defense Coalition.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/.
  13. “National Election Defense Coalition.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/.
  14. “About.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/about.
  15. “About.” ElectionDefense. Accessed July 24, 2023. https://www.electiondefense.org/about.
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