1/ A few thoughts on my proposal with @leedrutman calling for a Federal Elections Agency:

2/ The core problem is that our distributed approach to elections—10,500 election jurisdictions, each with their own rules, often established by partisan actors—is not fair. Depending on where they live, some American can easily register & vote, while others face major barriers.

3/ All votes don't matter the same amount, either. Some people live in states with nonpartisan redistricting, but most live in states with highly partisan (largely GOP-created) voting districts drawn to entrench the power of those already holding office.

4/ Our elections are also hugely underfunded. This means that even the election administrators with the best of intentions often aren't able to maximize turnout and ensure the security of voting technology and systems.

5/ We *will not* solve these problems by leaving election standards and enforcement to the states. Blue-state elections may stay relatively inclusive and well-funded, but red-state elections will continue systematically disenfranchising Black, Hispanic, Native, and young voters.

6/ Our solution is to pass strong federal standards for fair and secure elections, a la H.R. 1—and then to make sure those standards are enforced and improved upon over time via a Federal Elections Agency. Without robust enforcement, standards aren't sufficient.

7/ The concern, of course, is that anti-democratic forces will take over the federal government and use such an agency to their benefit, further entrenching their power. We have two answers to this challenge.

8/ First, we designed the agency drawing on best practices from federal agencies that have retained significant independence even during the Trump administration, such as the Federal Reserve. More details can be found in the second half of our full report: https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/reports/america-needs-federal-elections-agency/

9/ And second, it is hard to see how an anti-democratic party like the current iteration of the GOP could seize power under the new standards that would accompany the agency. Under fair rules, the GOP would have to abandon voter suppression & adopt a new strategy to win votes.

10/ If folks don't agree with my sense of how this would play out, let's have that conversation. I don't have a crystal ball and am very open to debate. But the starting rebuttal can't be "federalism is the solution!" Because looking at elections right now, it's very clearly not.