Case Study: Mayors & Municipalities

There is increased attention to, and leadership by, local governments in the wake of federal retraction from critical areas mentioned in the American Crisis Report. To illustrate, we are lifting up an example of the ways in which many mayors are working with their communities to protect democratic processes across one of these crisis points in particular: midterm elections, which also relates in important ways to the other identified crisis points of use of military force, climate disruption, and financial distress. This overview comes from the Mayors Innovation Project, a national, nonpartisan peer learning network for U.S. mayors based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Municipalities and their supporting civic organizations play a crucial role in protecting democratic processes by convening and coordinating stakeholders, establishing clear escalation protocols, and updating crisis plans. Many cities are moving beyond passive administration to actively safeguard voting integrity across five key operational areas described in this overview.

Research reviewed by the Carnegie Endowment finds that people who overestimate the opposing side's willingness to undermine democratic norms are more likely to support antidemocratic actions themselves. Meanwhile, a 2026 Reuters/Ipsos survey found that two-thirds of Americans believe U.S. democracy is in danger of failing. Compounding this security risk is a widening resource gap. As election threats become more sophisticated, the resources available to address them are becoming more constrained. The State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program fell from $279.9 million in FY2024 to $91.7 million in FY2025, while the required non-federal cost share increased.

At the same time, municipalities are facing their own fiscal pressures: the National League of Cities' 2025 City Fiscal Conditions report found that only 45% of city finance officers were optimistic about meeting their fiscal needs in FY2026, down from 64% in 2024, while general-fund spending growth slowed from 7.5% in FY2024 to just 0.7% in FY2025. The result is a widening gap between the growing number of threats cities may be expected to help address and the resources available to do so, making it increasingly important for municipal leaders to prioritize investments, leverage existing infrastructure, and coordinate across departments rather than treating each emerging threat as a new standalone expense.

This combination of decreased resources and deepening distrust of institutions and political opponents can create localized risks of intimidation, unrest, and challenges to lawful election outcomes. Further, threats are not merely ideological, theoretical, or legal; they materialize as extreme weather disruptions, power grid failures, cybersecurity breaches, and civil disturbances. Whoever holds statutory responsibility for administering local elections, it is municipal infrastructure that absorbs the blow when disruptions strike. As mayors look toward the midterm elections, they face a vastly transformed threat landscape. Preparing for it requires mayors to break down departmental silos, leverage existing city assets, and coordinate proactively across government tiers, ensuring the local democratic process remains secure, resilient, and accessible to all.

Our work with U.S. mayors, along with national policy scans, have revealed several themes related to how municipal leaders are thinking about and working to ensure democratic processes remain intact across the particular crisis point of elections. These include utilizing their roles as trusted messengers and how they are revisiting existing policies and procedures to account for evolving contexts (e.g., severe weather, political divisiveness, and federal interference). We present them here across five key operational areas:

• Mitigating Generative AI, Disinformation, and Misinformation: Deepfake technology lowers production costs and accelerates targeted disinformation that impersonates trusted local messengers or fabricates voting logistics; misinformation campaigns have increasingly been used to confuse and mislead potential voters about things like voting rules, safety, and eligibility. Municipalities are countering this through internal staff simulations—such as Marietta, Georgia's deepfake cybersecurity training—and by connecting residents directly to official state verification portals, as Minneapolis, Minnesota, does with state ballot-tracking tools. Cities also build trust by opening pre-election tabulator testing to public observation, exemplified by the City of Madison Clerk's Office.
• Navigating Jurisdictional Friction Around Law Enforcement: Political pressures regarding law enforcement presence near polls can intimidate voters and create complex public safety challenges. Cities manage these risks through pre-election coordination and structured escalation pathways, such as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's multi-agency tabletop exercises and dedicated Election Task Force. Additional municipal strategies include establishing physical buffer zones around polling places, establishing direct communication lines with state military liaisons, conducting de-escalation training, and having planned responses if there are requests for federal involvement that may deter fair and safe elections.
• Countering Election Worker Attrition & Intimidation: Sustained harassment has led to severe election workforce shortages. Local governments are using municipal policy to protect and expand staff, such as Columbus, Ohio's paid Precinct Election Official Leave program for city workers. Municipalities are also shielding workers by removing personal data from online broker databases, flagging worker addresses in 911/CAD systems to prevent swatting, and expanding recruitment pipelines to include youth (aged 16+), bilingual staff, veterans, and faith-based community partners.
• Guaranteeing Physical Access to Voting Sites: Accessibility barriers, transit gaps, and construction bottlenecks disproportionately impact voters with disabilities, older residents, and transit-dependent individuals. Cities leverage municipal infrastructure to eliminate these hurdles; Dubuque, Iowa ("Ride to Vote") and Knoxville, Tennessee, offer free public transit and paratransit on Election Day. Local authorities further ensure access by enforcing public-works construction moratoriums along key routes and utilizing the U.S. Department of Justice ADA Polling Place Checklist for venue audits.
• Building Resilience Against Disaster & Extreme Weather: Natural disasters can damage facilities, cut power, and force sudden polling place consolidations that depress turnout. Municipalities mitigate these risks by integrating election continuity into emergency management and FEMA Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans, and by creating preemptive inter-municipal operational frameworks and mutual aid agreements. Following Hurricane Helene, Treasure Island, Florida, rapidly evaluated flooded city facilities and coordinated with county election officials to quickly relocate a 22-year-old polling precinct to a nearby replacement location, demonstrating how municipal infrastructure assessment preserves voting access.

Based on conversations with mayors and national partners, it is evident that most U.S. municipalities have emergency management plans and protocols that can serve as a starting block for work to secure elections and protect democracy; however, it is critical that these are reviewed and updated in preparation for elections. It is also true that some emerging circumstances create a need for new frameworks altogether. Further, the possibility of threats emerging simultaneously (e.g., a power outage disrupts regular communication channels at the same time ICE arrives at a polling site) requires multiple levels of strategic preparation.

Mayors are quickly adapting to the emerging crises facing their communities. They lean on each other, personal relationships, and peer networks for real-time support and on metro, state-based, and national networks for resources and information. Additionally, U.S. mayors are working to establish and strengthen communication and partnerships with those in local, state, and federal law enforcement, trusted community partners, local advocacy and faith-based groups, and others, to ensure aligned, timely response, communication, and deployment of information.

As conditions continue to evolve, the importance of creating space for resource and idea sharing among mayors remains crucial. We are committed to helping share effective resources that municipalities can implement to promote safe and secure elections.