The Column: January 2026 — What’s Ahead

Welcome to The Column, a monthly newsletter from the Pillars of the Community team. Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, we will provide monthly updates on how Pillars across the country are examining the election process, building trust in the system, and getting their networks involved. 

We are pleased to send you this first 2026 issue of the monthly Pillars newsletter. We hope that you will find it a succinct, informative update on our organization’s activities and on developments in the field of election administration. As the mid-term election year begins, there will be much to report.

As you know, we began our bipartisan work together as Co-Chairs of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration in 2013. We recognized that whatever their other differences, Americans were united around the core proposition that our democracy required well-run, reliable elections in which the public had confidence, and that too often the hard and complex work of putting on elections did not receive the attention it deserved. In the charged politics of today, this point of agreement is more important than ever before.

The engagement of community leaders from all political points of view with our election officials over how the mechanics of elections work—the central mission of Pillars—has proven to be critical to the mission of better understood and effectively administered elections. Voters need information and have questions about sometimes fast-paced, complex partisan and legal conflicts over election rules and administration. This is true at all times, but especially so in this period of heightened partisan conflict that all too routinely features extreme rhetoric, misinformation, and confusion. Election administrators are caught in the middle, but the harm is to voters of all parties. The danger is an irrecoverable loss of confidence in our electoral process and in the clear electoral mandate our leaders need to govern. Pillars is a fully nonpartisan response that relies on and has proven the importance of community leadership on a very local level to address this grave problem for our democratic process.

Our monthly newsletter seeks to serve our Pillars by tracking the key developments. In this first issue, you will read about national issues, most notably the federal government’s demands for states’ voter rolls that has led to litigation in more than 20 states. Other developments vary state by state: new laws, and state and local board consideration or implementation of new rules governing early voting access, voter ID, provisional ballots, and challenges to ballot access.  

We look forward to the meetings we will be scheduling between our Pillars and election officials to explore these and other issues. These newsletters will include reports on those discussions in the seven states that are the focus of our program this year. As always, our goal for these discussions is a full and open exchange of information and views. Pillars learn from the election officials, and vice versa. The outcome, we are confident, is a major contribution to public confidence in elections and their effective administration, the cornerstone of our democracy.

We can never express enough appreciation for your willingness, Pillars of your communities, to engage in this work.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2026

Building on what we learned in 2024, we’re expanding, growing, and evolving the Pillars of the Community program ahead of what could be a contentious 2026 midterm election season. In addition to some returning program elements, we’re excited to incorporate new opportunities for education, outreach, and leadership within your community in the year ahead. 

Here’s what you can expect: 

• A newsletter every month in your inbox, offering exclusive insights from election officials; analysis from Pillars co-chairs, Ben and Bob; on-the-ground intel from our seven-state network; recent media hits by Pillars of the Community; and a rundown of Pillars gatherings and activations across the country. 
• Kickoff meetings with election officials and Pillars of the Community leadership to provide a crash course or a refresher on how elections work in your community and state. 
• The continuation of ask-me-anything town halls with election officials for you and your networks to answer pressing questions about how elections work and the safeguards in place to ensure accurate elections for all Americans. 
• Tours of election facilities to see first-hand how elections are run and kept secure. 
• Optional message and media training for Pillars who are interested in speaking publicly or with members of the media, along with comprehensive message guides and fact sheets tailored to local markets and political contexts. 
• Media opportunities including interviews, opinion pieces, and social media content for you to tailor for your own channels. 
• In the event of highly contested races, opportunities to participate in press conferences and signed statements about how the election performed. 

Up first, we’re looking to schedule a kickoff call with all new and returning Pillars, Ben and Bob, and our state leads. The all-state call will take place on Zoom sometime in the next month, and we’ll outline our vision for the year ahead and answer any outstanding questions you might have. Keep an eye on your inbox for a formal invitation. 

It’s a privilege to work with each and every one of you, and we’re excited to work together in the year ahead.

NEWS ON THE GROUND

Pillars of the Community is active in seven of the most pivotal and contentious states in the United States, and with the 2026 midterms on the horizon, we’re tracking election news on the ground.

Here are the highlights: 

CONTACT US

Have a question or would like to add a friend or colleague to our mailing list? Send us an email at [email protected].