Democracy belongs to all of us, and so should the news about it.
When leading voting rights attorney Marc Elias launched Democracy Docket in 2020, he set out to tell the story of the fight for democracy from the inside. Today, our newsroom covers every front of that fight: the courtrooms, statehouses and federal agencies where the rules of our elections are written and rewritten.
Plenty of outlets cover the political horse race: who’s up, who’s down and who’s likely to win. Democracy Docket covers the battles that decide whether elections are free and fair at all. Tracking election and democracy litigation remains central to our mission. But voter suppression, partisan gerrymandering and other efforts to undermine free and fair elections are also unfolding in Congress, in the White House and in states across the country. We don’t treat attempts to restrict voting as one side of a legitimate debate.
Our coverage helps voters, advocates and anyone who cares about free and fair elections understand what’s happening in court, why it matters and what comes next.
News
Our newsroom has grown from a handful of writers into a team of 20+ that covers voting and democracy around the clock. We’ve published more than 3,600 news articles and more than 600 in-depth analyses, going deeper on voting rights and election litigation than any other newsroom. Many of our proudest stories are ones no one else covered. We were first to report the Department of Justice’s plan to demand voter roll data from all 50 states. And we were the only national news outlet in the courtroom for the legal challenge to Texas’ gerrymandered congressional map.
Our free newsletters bring that reporting straight to your inbox, with one for every level of interest:
- Daily Docket: Recaps the day’s most important voting and democracy news.
- On The Docket: Brings you the three biggest stories in the fight for democracy, told by the reporters covering them, along with a behind-the-scenes look at how the news gets made.
- Eye On The Right: Dives into the right-wing groups and figures threatening our democracy.
Everyone has a stake in how our elections work. We cut through the legal jargon so you don’t have to.
Opinion
Our YouTube channel features long-form conversations between Marc and leading voices in law, politics and activism. Marc and voices like these, alongside a regular stable of expert contributors, also publish op-eds on the pressing issues facing voters and our democracy.
Our founder Marc Elias breaks down the latest court rulings, voting rights fights and threats to democracy as they unfold on our YouTube channel. It also hosts an archive of long-form conversations with leading voices in law, politics and activism, including Hillary Rodham Clinton and NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Janai Nelson.
We’ve also published more than 500 opinion columns from Marc and some of the most prominent voices in the fight for democracy.
Research
Our Research team brings legal expertise to every case we track. Its three lawyers have a combined 20 years of experience in the courtroom, on political campaigns and in the federal government. Together, they maintain the most expansive database of democracy-related litigation in the country. It includes more than 1,000 cases, and more than 240 of them are active. Every day, the team monitors court dockets in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and publishes hundreds of pages of filings each week in real time. The database is free and open to lawyers, journalists, policymakers, organizers and anyone who wants to see the documents for themselves.
Our audience
What began as an email list of 200 people has grown into a nationwide community of pro-democracy readers. Today, more than 500,000 people subscribe to our newsletters, and we have 2+ million followers across social media.
Support our work
We believe information about democracy should be available to everyone. That’s why our website and flagship newsletters are free for all. More than 70,000 readers help keep it that way as members. Become a member for $120 a year and join them.