In some ways, 2021 feels worlds away from where we are now. 

In others, it feels like it could have been yesterday. Or it could be tomorrow. 

In 2021, we were emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. We’d elected a new president and our first-ever Black, Asian, and female vice president. The administration in power believed in women’s right to choose, LGBTQIA+ equality, racial justice, and environmental protections. There was so much at stake, but also so much hope. 

At the same time, the seeds of our current Constitutional Crisis had been sown. Voter suppression was at a historic high. Across the states, bills restricting transgender rights, abortion rights, and other tenets of an equal democracy were arising. And of course, five years ago today, a group of violent insurrectionists stormed the US Capitol, attempting to overturn the results of the free and fair 2020 election. The act ended in several lives lost, dozens seriously injured, and a nation traumatized. 

Reflecting on this tragic day in 2024, League President Dianna Wynn and I noted that January 6 was a reminder of “the sacredness of preserving democracy.” As we look ahead to a critical year for elections and advocacy, this reminder guides my every move. 

We now know that what many activists had told us from the beginning was correct: 2021 wasn’t the end of democratic strife, but the beginning of one of the greatest ever threats to our democracy. 

In the years since, abortion rights, affirmative action in college admissions, and crucial gun reforms have been gutted. Communities of immigrants, LGBTQIA+ folks, and Black and brown people have been – and are being – directly attacked, with consequences ranging from family separation to unlawful deportation to death. 

And as we entered the new year, we were confronted with another deeply troubling moment: President Trump ordering the use of the US military to forcibly remove Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from Venezuela, without constitutional authority, congressional approval, or the consent of the American or Venezuelan people. This action did not occur in a vacuum. It reflects a broader global erosion of democratic norms and the dangerous normalization of executive overreach, both abroad and at home. When democratic principles are disregarded on the international stage, it weakens the rule of law everywhere, including within our own borders. What we tolerate overseas inevitably shapes what becomes acceptable domestically, reminding us that the fight for democracy is global, domestic, and deeply personal to all of us.

What's more, our freedom to vote is more at risk than ever. In May 2024, a Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) ruling eroded legal protections against racial discrimination in voting. In December 2025, SCOTUS granted Texas’s request for a stay of a ruling blocking their 2025 congressional map as an illegal racial gerrymander, allowing the racist map to stay in place for the 2026 election. This decision hints that the Court may be about to strike down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Meanwhile, organizations like Voting Rights Lab are tracking over 700 election laws and proposed pieces of legislation in 2026, which will impact voters in more than half of all states and DC. 

Let’s not forget this is happening during a major – and I mean major – election year. With primaries beginning in a matter of weeks and national midterm elections this fall, voters in 2026 will determine whether Congress is led by a cohort of bipartisan, pro-voter representatives or those who would exacerbate the current crisis.  

That is, voters will decide this if they’re not suppressed from making their voices heard. 

As CEO of the League, I see this as my most critical moment. Our mission and our history demand that the League of Women Voters do absolutely everything within our power to make 2026 the year we save our democracy, not the year we condemn it. 

This means acting on every possible front. This includes: 

• Empowering voters online: by providing information on tens of thousands of elections and candidates via our bilingual election information site, VOTE411.org. Voters can register, confirm local election rules, compare candidates, and much more, preparing them to make their voices heard.
• Empowering voters on the ground: through thousands of voter registration events, outreach to young, new, and returning citizens, debates between local candidates, and partnerships to ensure civic information reaches all of us.
• Fighting anti-voter laws: federally and statewide. That means fighting in legal cases, providing testimony in nationwide courts (including SCOTUS), and using action alerts and other measures to make it easier for people to advocate for or against the laws that will impact them.
• Showing up in partnership: in rallies, across petitions, and so much more. We know that we’re stronger when we stand together, across diverse audiences with unique experiences. We must continue to ally ourselves with pro-democracy groups and people from all walks of life to ensure a truly representative movement.
• Speaking out against anti-democratic action: be it voter suppression, election interference, misinformation, hateful rhetoric, or anything else that threatens every person’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

All of these actions and more are encompassed in our Unite and Rise 8.5 initiative. Unite and Rise is bringing together millions of voters (8.5 million, to be exact) to defend our democracy against those who’d destroy it. If you’d like to join us, we hope you’ll sign our commitment form. 

Commit to Unite and Rise

If you asked me in 2021 if there would be a need for an initiative like Unite and Rise, I’d have said, “We have a lot of work to do in this country, but I hope we’re not at that level.” Well, here we are. So, we have two options: give up or fight. 

In 2026, I’m going to fight. The League is going to fight. Because we, the people, are worth fighting for. 

And I hope that five years from now, in 2031, I’ll be writing a very different blog. 

Will you join us? Will you make 2026 the year we saved democracy together? 

For our nation’s sake, I hope so.