A Critical Mass of Voters

I’m Tyler Hagenbuch. I’m a political law attorney, and I’ve spent nearly 20 years working in and around American elections.

Most election law coverage is of two types: There’s the insider, encyclopedic newsletters written for people who already know what Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act means. And there’s political commentary that always tells you to be worried but never quite explains why or what to do about it.

This newsletter is neither.

What you’ll find here: plain-language explainers on what’s actually happening to our elections. The specific laws, court rulings, and government actions making it harder for ordinary Americans to cast a ballot and have it counted. No law degree required.

We’re living through a coordinated attack on the machinery of American democracy. After 20 years in this work, I can tell you it isn’t normal and it isn’t an accident. It’s a plan, and that plan’s purpose is to consolidate power for them at our expense. When they can’t win an election fairly, they change the rules, void the results they don’t like, and lock in power before anyone can stop them. I write about that plan, piece by piece, so you can see it as clearly as I do.

But this isn’t a doom newsletter. There’s enough stories to fill a book of people fighting back, rallying in their communities, and winning. Courts turning these attacks away. Communities out-organizing them. Joy, community, and showing up to vote as their own form of resistance. I aim to not only tell those stories, but to give you your own playbook to counter the fear-machine.

Paid subscribers get a weekly deep dive: maybe a series that pulls back from the daily headlines explains why your vote is the most powerful tool you have; maybe a roundup of all the stories that week that impact our election and your freedom that the national news failed to tell you about.

Free posts go out regularly and are open to everyone.

If you want to understand how our elections work, how they’re under attack, and what you can do about it, you’re in the right place.

Hands off our vote.

www.tylerh.co for more.