A Critical Mass of Voters
Understanding—And Standing Up To—The Assault on Democracy in 500 Words or Less
Polls often ask voters where they rank a “functioning democracy” among their other concerns for the nation, but how can we measure how well a democracy is functioning? And how do we keep up with the real-world impacts of the legal attacks on the right to vote?
A Critical Mass of Voters is a voting rights newsletter for an everyday audience; it’s election law analysis without the legalese (mostly). It attempts to provide clear explanations of exactly how our elections are under attack and why those attacks matter—and every post does so in 500 words or less.
Most of all, it tries to be an on-ramp for further engagement and close the gap between those who care about democracy and those who join the fight to save it. (Our Resources page has easy actions you can take to join us in the fight.)1
About the Author
Tyler Hagenbuch is an attorney and social impact strategist. He has been an election law and voting rights counselor to four Presidential campaigns, and he has over two decades of experience advising candidates, nonprofit organizations, businesses, executives, artists, celebrities, and family offices on their social impact and civic engagement activities. He has rural roots, a Midwestern mindset, and a lifetime of experience creating dialogue across difference. He lives in Los Angeles.
About the Name
“A critical mass of voters” is a term election lawyers use to triage election protection incidents. It distinguishes a situation that impacts a handful voters from an incident that impacts voting across an entire precinct or an entire county—a critical mass of voters—and warrants an immediate response.
This newsletter repurposes the term to emphasize the need for you, its readers, to speak out en masse against the assault on voting rights in order to preserve American democracy.
A Note on Partisanship
This newsletter necessarily takes partisan positions when the facts show that partisan actors are the ones taking anti-democratic positions. Even in those cases, however, most of the solutions we highlight on our Resources page are provided by nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations.
To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.
Of course, there are many who are already in the fight, and this newsletter owes them a debt. In particular, the research and analysis at Democracy Docket and Election Law Blog is invaluable. This newsletter will rely on and link to their work often. Other resources and sources of inspiration include Just Security’s Trump Trials Clearinghouse, the Strict Scrutiny podcast, and Popular Information. All are recommended and deserve your support.
