The Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), and Penn Law’s Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) are pleased to announce a new commentary series on election integrity. The post, “There’s still time to protect American democracy against threats to the 2020 elections,” is the first in the series created by the organizations for their joint project, Protecting the Integrity of the 2020 Elections Against Foreign Interference.
Each commentary will explore an issue related to foreign interference in elections and election security in Europe and the United States. Expert authors participating in the series will examine how Europe is addressing foreign interference in its elections generally, how principles of international law apply to election threats, and how Poland specifically is countering disinformation. Shifting to the United States, commentaries from civil society and federal and state government officials will address voter attitudes about foreign interference, election security, and fostering confidence in the November election. Commentaries will be released each week beginning August 13, culminating in a virtual symposium on foreign interference and election integrity held on September 17, 2020.
In the first commentary, Carrie Cordero, Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow at CNAS, and Claire Finkelstein, Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at Penn Law and CERL Faculty Director, identify two simultaneous threats to the integrity of the 2020 U.S. presidential election: first, continuing malign foreign interference, and second, complications in the administration of elections posed by COVID-19. To protect against these threats, the authors recommend several short-term steps that could be taken to improve the integrity of election results, including more transparency by technology platforms on the sources of content and paper ballot backup action by states.
Additional blog posts published subsequently include:
- European lessons for tackling election interference, by Erik Brattberg (Aug. 18)
- The growing threat of domestic disinformation in Poland, by Nina Jankowicz (Aug. 18)
- Protecting election integrity by prohibiting deception and disenfranchisement, by Chimène Keitner (Aug. 25)
- American needs a “we need you” message to counter foreign election interference, by Dan Vallone (Sept. 1)
- Partnerships to protect democracy: States vs. nation-states, by Scott Bates (Sept. 8)
About the Collaborators
Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL)
Established in 2012, CERL is a nonpartisan interdisciplinary institute dedicated to preserving and promoting ethics and the rule of law in 21st century national security, warfare, and democratic governance through conferences, symposia, and publications.
Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
CNAS is an independent and nonpartisan research institution that develops strong, pragmatic, and principled national security and defense policies. CNAS leads efforts to help inform and prepare the national security leaders of today and tomorrow.
Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania (APPC)
Since its founding in 1993, APPC has been the nation’s premier communication policy center. APPC is the home of Annenberg Classroom, which offers a free, nonpartisan multimedia curriculum for teaching the Constitution; the Civics Renewal Network, a consortium of more than 30 nonpartisan, nonprofit institutions dedicated to strengthening civic life by providing free, high-quality educational materials; and FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan fact-checking website that serves as a “consumer advocate” for voters.
