Democracy Decoded

Host Simone Leeper is joined by George Washington University law professor Spencer Overton, alongside Campaign Legal Center’s Gilda Daniels and Bruce Spiva, to examine how the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and Trump's redistricting push have left voters of color with fewer protections — and what it will take to get them back.

Host Simone Leeper is joined by Campaign Legal Center’s Jonathan Diaz and Chad Dunn of the UCLA Voting Rights Project to explore how attempts to undermine our elections reveal a coordinated effort to erode trust in American democracy, both historically and in the run-up to the 2026 midterms.

Host Simone Leeper traces a throughline from a handcuffed senator to blacklisted law firms, surveilled protesters, and hijacked government emails — and asks Yale Law Professor Robert Post and Campaign Legal Center's Danielle Lang what's left of the First Amendment when dissent comes with a price.

Host Simone Leeper is joined by Melissa Murray, Michael Luttig, and Brent Ferguson to examine how the rule of law is being dismantled by the Trump administration — one court ruling, one fired commissioner, and one unchecked executive action at a time.

We are beyond thrilled to announce Democracy Decoded once again has been nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Public Service & Activism podcasts!

Host Simone Leeper speaks with Campaign Legal Center attorneys Catie Kelley and Jonathan Diaz about the Trump administration’s efforts to seize state control of elections. From unlawful executive orders to voter registration barriers and voter roll data grabs, they explain how these actions undermine federalism—and what CLC is doing to protect American elections in the lead-up to 2026 and 2028.

Host Simone Leeper speaks with Campaign Legal Center’s Mark Gaber and Utah voters Vicki and Malcolm Reed about how everyday Americans are fighting back against gerrymandering — and what’s at stake when politicians choose their voters instead of the other way around.

Host Simone Leeper speaks with Mark Lee Greenblatt, Jodi Vittori and Kedric Payne to examine how corruption and abuses of power are eroding safeguards in government; how failures of accountability in Congress and the courts are weakening public trust; and what reforms could protect against corruption and conflicts of interest now and in the future.

Host Simone Leeper speaks with former FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and CLC President Trevor Potter to examine how court rulings opened the door to unlimited political spending; how partisan gridlock has left the FEC unable to act; and what reforms could restore transparency and accountability in American democracy.

How did American democracy reach such a precarious moment — and what can we do to fix things? Host Simone Leeper examines the fundamental threats to our democracy today, from gerrymandering and corruption to abuses of executive power and the outsized role of money in politics.

In the end, the worst of everyone’s election fears — political violence, overt foreign interference or a razor-thin margin between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump leading to a hotly contested legal battle — did not come to pass. Instead, Donald Trump won a plurality of votes for president, and did so decisively. On January 20, 2025, he will once again become the country’s most powerful executive. His victory raises weighty questions for the experts at Campaign Legal Center. Trump ran explicitly on a platform of behaving like an authoritarian, promising to fire U.S. civil servants, threatening opponents with jail, and brandishing military force against would-be dissenters. As his return to power approaches, we grapple with a paradoxical election, in which voters declared their preference for the candidate who repeatedly threatened the American system as we know it. Joining Simone in this episode are Trevor Potter, CLC’s president and founder, and CLC senior vice presidents Paul M. Smith and Bruce Spiva. They offer their forecasts for the uncertain years ahead and explain what this election did (and did not) signify about the health of American democracy.

An incumbent president drops out, mid-race. A former president becomes a party’s nominee for the first time in more than a century. There are multiple occurrences of political violence against a candidate. Newly emergent AI tools spread disinformation. And a Supreme Court that may be called upon to decide the race is perceived by the electorate as increasingly politicized. The 2024 election cycle has already made its share of history. With Election Day now just a week away, we bring you another of this season’s up-to-the-minute episodes. This time we’re speaking with Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center, who joins Simone to explain how this election has been playing out, and what it all means for you, the voter, as the deadline nears to cast your ballot. Nationwide nonpartisan Election Protection (EP) hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)

When New Hampshire voters picked up the phone earlier this year and heard what sounded like the voice of President Joe Biden asking them not to vote in that state’s primary election, the stage was set for an unprecedented election year. The call was a deepfake — and the first major instance of artificial intelligence being used in the 2024 election. With the rise of AI tools that can credibly synthesize voices, images and videos, how are voters supposed to determine what they can trust as they prepare to cast their votes? To find out how lawmakers and civil society are pushing back against harmful false narratives and content, we talked with experts engaging the problem on several fronts. Stephen Richer, an elected Republican in Phoenix, posts on X (formerly Twitter) to engage misinformation head-on to protect Arizona voters. Adav Noti, the executive director of CLC, explains how good-governance advocates are hurrying to catch up with a profusion of new digital tools that make the age-old practices of misinformation and disinformation faster and cheaper than ever. And Mia Hoffman, a researcher who looks at the effects of AI on democracies, reminds voters not to panic — that bad information and malicious messaging don’t always have the power to reach their audience, let alone sway people’s opinions or actions.