Voting Rights Lab Action is a left-of-center electoral advocacy group that acts as the lobbying and political activity arm of the Voting Rights Lab. Both groups were formed in 2018 by left-of-center organizer and attorney Megan Lewis, who leads the organization as of 2025, and operate largely as a single public-facing entity, with the Voting Rights Lab being the primary public-facing brand of the organization. The Voting Rights Lab and Voting Rights Lab Action were previously registered trade names of the New Venture Fund and the North Fund, respectively, both nonprofit organizations managed by philanthropic consulting firm Arabella Advisors. As of 2022, Voting Rights Lab Action was a registered trade name of Secure Democracy USA, a left-of-center electoral advocacy group that supports left-of-center election administration policies at the state level and opposes Republican-led election integrity efforts. The SD Foundation, a sister organization to Secure Democracy USA, operates the Voting Rights Lab. ^{1 2  3   4}

Background and Activity

Voting Rights Lab Action was formed in 2018 along with Voting Rights Lab. The group was originally a registered trade name of the North Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit within the Arabella Advisors “dark money” network. The group’s sister organization, Voting Rights Lab, was a project of the New Venture Fund, another of the nonprofit funding and sponsorship groups in the Arabella network. ^{5 6}

 

Beginning in 2022, Voting Rights Lab Action was a registered trade name of Secure Democracy USA, a left-of-center electoral advocacy group that supports left-of-center election administration policies at the state level and opposes Republican-led election integrity efforts. The SD Foundation, a sister organization to Secure Democracy USA, operates the Voting Rights Lab. ⁷

Secure Democracy USA was previously a different organization known as Secure Democracy. In 2022, Secure Democracy was dissolved as a legal entity and reformed under the name Secure Democracy USA with a new employer identification number and 501(c)(4) status. Public filings revealed that the newly formed Secure Democracy USA and the New Venture Fund had “entered into an agreement with [Secure Democracy] to acquire SD’s assets and liabilities.” ⁸

Voting Rights Lab Action provides advocacy in support of left-of-center election administration policies favorable to Democrats; the group opposes efforts to require proof of citizenship to vote and supports expanded early voting and vote-by-mail, among other policies. ^{4 9 10 11}

Leadership

Megan Lewis is a co-founder and the executive director of the Voting Rights Lab and Voting Rights Lab Action. Lewis previously worked as the executive vice president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a lobbying group founded by former New York Mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg that advocates for gun control measures. ¹²

Controversy

On October 28, 2022, Sarah Walker, Secure Democracy’s former executive director and vice president of advocacy, filed a lawsuit against Secure Democracy, Secure Democracy USA (the parent organization of Voting Rights Lab Action), and the New Venture Fund seeking damages for alleged discrimination, civil rights violations, and wrongful termination. ⁸

According to the lawsuit, both Secure Democracy and New Venture Fund had discriminated against racial minority female employees by paying them less than their white counterparts, denying them equal opportunity for advancement, and denying them equal access to benefits.” According to the lawsuit, Secure Democracy and the Voting Rights Lab leadership “constantly reminded [Walker] of her racial identity,” were obsessed with “race and racial dynamics.” ⁸

The lawsuit also alleged that Secure Democracy and the Voting Rights Lab (New Venture Fund) had engaged in unethical advocacy practices that “jeopardiz[ed] their tax exempt status” and “intentional tax violations” by “unlawfully subsidizing” Secure Democracy’s 501(c)(4) operations with funds from the 501(c)(3) Voting Rights Lab and the New Venture Fund. ⁸

1. “Our Work.” Secure Democracy USA. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://securedemocracyusa.org/our-work/
2. “Trade Names of the Arabella Advisors Network.” Americans for Public Trust. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://americansforpublictrust.org/document/trade-names-of-the-arabella-advisors-network/
3. “DCRA Corporate Registry: Secure Democracy USA.” DCRA Corporate Registry. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://corponline.dcra.dc.gov/BizEntity.aspx/ViewEntityData?entityId=4311415
4. Kerr, Andrew and Joseph Simonson. “Top Democratic Operatives Were Quietly Pulling the Strings at a Voting Rights Group. Lawyers Say They May Have Broken the Law.” Washington Free Beacon, July 10, 2023. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/top-democratic-operatives-were-quietly-pulling-the-strings-at-a-voting-rights-group-lawyers-say-they-may-have-broken-the-law/
5. “DCRA Corporate Registry: New Venture Fund.” DCRA Corporate Registry. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://corponline.dcra.dc.gov/BizEntity.aspx/ViewEntityData?entityId=2689437.
6. “Trade Names of the Arabella Advisors Network.” Americans for Public Trust. Accessed June 24, 2025. https://americansforpublictrust.org/document/trade-names-of-the-arabella-advisors-network/
7. https://corponline.dcra.dc.gov/BizEntity.aspx/ViewEntityData?entityId=4311415
8. Ludwig, Hayden. “Breaking: Arabella-Aligned Groups Sued for Racial Discrimination, Violating Civil Rights Laws.” Capital Research Center. Capital Research Center, November 3, 2022. https://capitalresearch.org/article/breaking-arabella-aligned-groups-sued-for-racial-discrimination-violating-civil-rights-laws/.
9. “Texas SB 16 Senate Passage Statement.” Secure Democracy USA. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://securedemocracyusa.org/tx-sb-16-senate-passage-statement/
10. “Mississippi Senate Elections Committee Passes In-Person Early Voting Legislation.” Secure Democracy USA. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://securedemocracyusa.org/ms-senate-elections-committee-passes-in-person-early-voting-legislation/
11. “Arizona Ballot Return Deadline Poll Results.” Secure Democracy USA. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://securedemocracyusa.org/az-ballot-return-deadline-poll-results/
12. “About The Voting Rights Lab.” Voting Rights Lab. Accessed March 15, 2020. https://www.votingrightslab.org/