A Look Back at 2025
Laying the Groundwork for 2026
The moment President Trump took office for his second term in January 2025, the world shifted. The regime stoked violence against our communities at a dizzying pace, all in an effort to advance their agenda of intimidation—pulling families apart, detaining lawful residents and U.S. citizens without cause, and deploying federal law enforcement in our cities.
This assault was an effort to seize more power, and it has included aggressively undertaking plans to keep people from voting. This past year, the federal government gutted agencies meant to support voters, weaponized the U.S. Department of Justice to seize private voter data, and threatened election officials with baseless criminal prosecution. Each of these attacks was an effort at taking control of our elections in advance of the midterms.
All Voting is Local’s and AVL Action’s work for the 2026 midterm elections began early in 2025. Our teams refused to be driven to inertia and hopelessness, continually proving why our organizations were made for this moment. Our expertise and planning in what is often considered an “off year” allowed us to get out ahead of problems to ensure the will of the people prevails by empowering local and state election officials to protect our vote and standing against threats by President Trump and his allies at the state level. In 2026, we’ll see the results of our hard work in action.
2025 By the Numbers
Protecting Our Vote Through State Work
Arizona
AVL Action Arizona led the effort to preserve mail-in ballot drop-offs for the more than 500,000 voters who typically return an early ballot between the Saturday before the election and Election Day. Over the course of 24 hours, the team led a partner effort to rally a coalition of more than 20 groups to sign on to a letter encouraging the governor to veto AS SB1001. The rapid response paid off, and the governor vetoed the anti-voter bill.
Florida
All Voting, along with partners, won a new in-person polling place in Duval County. After more than a year of advocacy by All Voting Florida, the county adopted the Dallas James Graham Branch Library as a polling place in Jacksonville—a victory that will expand access for all 658,913 Duval voters, especially the nearly 95,000 voters in District 10 who have faced polling place closures and the loss of early voting sites in predominantly Black precincts.
Georgia
AVL Action Georgia ran a campaign to oppose a rule proposed by the state election board that would have opened the door for political interference and voter confusion by giving state officials and judges the power to override county elections officials. AVL Action Georgia opposed the rule through public comment and coordinated a lineup of partners to speak against it, providing messaging and talking points. The rule’s defeat reinforced our role as a go-to resource for strategy and guidance on state election board matters.
Michigan
All Voting Michigan stepped up to help election officials hold the line and not give in to unlawful demands from the administration. In response to a troubling U.S. Department of Justice demand for the state’s full voter rolls, All Voting quickly mobilized with the Michigan Department of State, as well as national and state partners, to coordinate a unified strategy that supported the state’s efforts to refuse to turn over voter rolls. This early intervention helped prevent what could have been a significant breach of voter privacy and a precedent-setting act of federal overreach.
Election officials in our states know whom to call when threats surface: us. That trust didn’t just appear overnight; it was earned mile by mile, meeting by meeting—proving that preparedness is relational before it can be reformed into action.
Nevada
When voting machines in Washoe County (Reno) were out of date and badly needed replacing, the county registrar called on AVL Action Nevada to help win a county commission vote that would fund additional voting equipment for in-person polling places. The upgrades ensured voter confidence in accurate results and made voting more accessible, but anti-voter activists fiercely opposed the investment. AVL Action Nevada partnered with Registrar McDonald and organized state advocacy partners to be a positive voice for budget accountability. Due to the public pressure AVL Action created, in alignment with the county registrar, the county funded the new voting equipment.
Ohio
All Voting is Local Ohio created the election administration pipeline project in 2025. The pilot program enabled an inaugural group of students to complete an All Voting-created curriculum in election administration, fostering a new generation of election officials. Officials in Ohio had expressed to us that recruitment is one of their top concerns as they continue to face unprecedented hostility and diminished support from state leaders, so we are hopeful this program can support the development of a new administrator class.
Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, All Voting is Local successfully called on state officials to redesign the provisional ballot envelope for all 67 counties, making it easier for tens of thousands of voters to successfully cast their vote and have their provisional ballots counted. After learning that officials rejected 30,000 provisional ballots in the 2024 election, All Voting is Local worked collaboratively with partners to call for changes that would help voters avoid the minor technical errors that are common reasons for ballots getting thrown out. Not only does this reform expand voter access, it reduces the likelihood of frivolous post-election litigation by reducing the number of ballots that can be questioned or challenged in a state all too familiar with such cases.
Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, All Voting coordinated a statewide response to a legal threat to how absentee ballots are treated after they are cast. The case attempted to argue that absentee voting is merely a “privilege,” not a protected right—a shift that could have allowed ballots to be more easily rejected, especially in high-turnout communities. Drawing on the team’s election administration expertise, All Voting translated a complex legal issue into clear voter-focused messaging: Once a voter lawfully casts an absentee ballot, they have exercised the constitutional right to vote, and that vote must count. By centering voters rather than institutional disputes, All Voting helped shape public understanding and strengthen confidence in absentee voting protections.
Shaping the Message: Hands Off Our Vote
In 2025, we deployed strategic communications to fight disinformation, drive our advocacy, and ensure that state and national media narratives remain focused on the most important issues for voters. While the administration and its allies stoked fear and violence in a brazen attempt to silence Americans and control elections before ballots are cast, All Voting is Local and AVL Action deepened our relationships with state and national media partners, allowing us to better shape the narrative against escalating threats and ensure accurate reporting approaching the 2026 election.
In 2025 our work was recognized by the Elevate Prize, The Hill, The Atlantic, TIME Magazine, Time100 Next, and organizations such as Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice. Our strategic messaging turned threats into opportunities. In Georgia, for example, AVL Action acted swiftly to oppose continued efforts to relitigate the 2020 election. Working with media outlets, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, they were able to shape public narratives not only in Georgia but nationally, as lies about past elections continue to drive emerging threats to future ones.
Data-driven Advocacy
All Voting’s policy and analytics team released “The Disproportionate Impact of Election Day Bomb Threats on Voters of Color” analysis, which exposed how a bomb threat hoax in 2020 specifically harmed communities of color. We unfortunately saw this tactic reemerge during the 2025 elections in New Jersey, and we can continue to leverage and share this data to inform our movement’s planning and tactical response.
National Leadership
All Voting’s national team led efforts to push back when the U.S. Election Assistance Commission moved to implement Trump’s illegal executive order on elections. All Voting spearheaded an effort to urge the commission not to move forward. All Voting is Local helped mobilize hundreds of public comments submitted by organizations, election officials, and members of the public. Later, in October, All Voting submitted comments to the commission again, this time urging commissioners to reject a petition by America First Legal Foundation, a legal advocacy organization founded by Stephen Miller, to require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections—a move that would block millions of eligible Americans from voting. Fighting against efforts requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote or to implement parts of the executive order on voting, no matter how technical, strengthens the movement to protect our vote.
Closing
As we approach November 2026, our mission to protect our vote at the local and state levels has never been more critical. The steadfast commitment of your support empowers us to navigate the challenges of the upcoming 2026 election cycle collaboratively. Together, we will leverage our collective power to ensure all voters are able to make their voices heard in 2026—particularly Black, Brown, and Native American communities who have been historically excluded from the process—to build a government that works for us all.