Dem PACs to make joint investment in swing states for National Voter Registration Day

Democracy Defenders PAC and Fair Fight, two Democratic PACs, plan to make a joint six-figure investment in battleground states to prepare for and fight voter suppression issues in November.

In a memo exclusively sent to The Hill, the groups said the contribution will go to “combat election sabotage and further efforts of Democratic state parties or allied groups” in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The announcement is timed to coincide with National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday.

“Across the country – but particularly in the battleground states that will decide this election – Donald Trump and his allies are already trying to disenfranchise voters. This is happening right now. Trump and his allies are laying the groundwork to undermine the will of the people and steal this election if they lose in November,” wrote Democracy Defenders PAC chair Jim Messina and Fair Fight CEO chair Lauren Groh-Wargo.

The memo, entitled “Threats to Democracy in Battleground States,” outlines instances of what they argued were voter suppression in each battleground state, including in Georgia where the 2021 election law requires identification to vote and doesn’t allow for voters in line to be offered food or water.

“Voter suppression, intimidation of election officials, frivolous lawsuits, and deliberate attempts to cast doubt on the electoral process are real, persistent, and ongoing. These coordinated attacks aren’t just targeting the presidential race; they threaten down-ballot races across the country,” they wrote in the memo. “But we are fighting back.”

Democracy Defenders PAC, led by Messina, former President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, and former Harris spokesperson TJ Ducklo, among others, is focused on preparing for election-related legal issues that could arise following the 2024 race. Fair Fight was founded by former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D) in 2018.

National Voter Registration Day is on September 17 and is observed as a nonpartisan holiday to raise awareness about civic engagement.

“When we first marked National Voter Registration Day in 2012, the initiative was a non-controversial effort to make sure as many Americans as possible who were eligible would make their voices heard in our democracy,” Messina and Groh-.Wargo wrote in the memo. “Fast forward to 2024, and encouraging people to exercise their fundamental right as an American to vote is no longer something we can all agree on.”

The investment come as former President Trump has repeatedly claimed there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election. He has challenged the results in court, which rejected those claims for lack of standing or evidence, and the Supreme Court rejected various election challenges.

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts poll last week found that more Republicans trust Trump and his campaign over the government’s certification of election results.