Capture lane

Electoral Manipulation

The Electoral Manipulation capture lane traces 444 verified events documenting this mechanism of institutional capture.

444 events From Sep 6, 1787 To Apr 3, 2026 Open in filter view →
Top 10 actors in this lane 10 actors · 1787–2026
Top actors in Electoral Manipulation179017951800180518101815182018251830183518401845185018551860186518701875188018851890189519001905191019151920192519301935194019451950195519601965197019751980198519901995200020052010201520202025WatergateReaganIran-Contra9/11Citizens UnitedTrump 1.0Trump 2.0Donald Trump1415 eventsU.S. Congress239 eventsAmerican Legislative Exchange Council63 eventsKarl RoveGeorge W. Bush72 eventsWhite House Iraq GroupBill Clinton59 eventsU.S. House of RepresentativesRepublican PartyMike Johnson
Capture lanecorruptiondemocraticexecutivefinancialintelligencejudiciallaborlegislativemediamilitaryotherregulatory Status confirmed alleged disputed
DateEventLanesStatus
2011-01-0134 States Introduce ALEC Voter ID Bills in Coordinated Suppression Campaign 3 src
American Legislative Exchange Council · Republican state legislators · Heritage Foundation · State Policy Network
confirmed
2011-01-01Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin Begin Systematic NRA Infiltration Operation 4 src
Maria Butina · Alexander Torshin · National Rifle Association · Russian Government
confirmed
2011-01-01North Carolina Republicans Begin Aggressive Racial Gerrymandering 4 src
North Carolina General Assembly · Republican Party · Robert Rucho
confirmed
2010-11-02Republicans Gain Record 680 State Legislative Seats, Securing REDMAP Objectives 4 src
Republican Party
confirmed
2010-03-26SpeechNow.org v. FEC Appeals Court Decision Creates Super PACs with Unlimited Contribution Authority 3 src
Federal Election Commission
confirmed
2010-01-21Supreme Court Citizens United Decision Unleashes Unlimited Corporate Spending 7 src
U.S. Supreme Court · Federal Election Commission · Anthony Kennedy
confirmed
2010-01-01Republican State Leadership Committee Launches REDMAP Gerrymandering Project 4 src
Karl Rove
confirmed
2009-09-01James O'Keefe's Deceptively Edited ACORN Videos Trigger Destruction of Voter Registration Organization 4 src confirmed
2009-07-17ALEC Creates Model Voter ID Legislation Following Obama Election 3 src
American Legislative Exchange Council · Hans von Spakovsky · Heritage Foundation
confirmed
2008-09-01Sarah Palin's NAR Pastors Exposed: New Apostolic Reformation Theology Enters National Electoral Politics 3 src
C. Peter Wagner
confirmed
2008-04-28Crawford v. Marion County: Supreme Court Upholds Strict Voter ID Laws Despite No Evidence of In-Person Fraud 3 src
U.S. Supreme Court · American Civil Liberties Union · Republican National Committee
confirmed
2008-01-01Hans von Spakovsky Joins Heritage Foundation to Lead Voter Suppression Infrastructure Development 4 src
Hans von Spakovsky · Heritage Foundation · American Legislative Exchange Council · Council for National Policy · +1
confirmed
2007-06-25DOJ Voting Section Politicization: Bush Administration Weaponizes Civil Rights Division for Voter Suppression 3 src
Alberto Gonzales · Hans von Spakovsky · Monica Goodling
confirmed
2006-12-07Bush Administration Fires 9 U.S. Attorneys for Political Reasons 3 src
Alberto Gonzales · Karl Rove · George W. Bush · U.S. Congress
confirmed
2006-07-27Voting Rights Act Reauthorization of 2006: 25-Year Extension Passes with Bipartisan Supermajority Before Conservative Legal Assault 3 src
George W. Bush · U.S. Congress · John Lewis · John Conyers
confirmed
2005-12-16New York Times Exposes NSA Warrantless Surveillance Program 5 src
James Risen · New York Times · George W. Bush · National Security Agency
confirmed
2005-08-25Hans von Spakovsky Overrules DOJ Career Staff to Approve Georgia Voter ID Law Targeting Black Voters 3 src
Hans von Spakovsky · Georgia Legislature
confirmed
2005-05-23Trump Launches "Trump University" Real Estate Seminars Without Academic License or Accreditation 3 src
Donald Trump · Michael Sexton
confirmed
2004-11-02Diebold Voting Machine Irregularities in Ohio 2004 Presidential Election 4 src
John Conyers
confirmed
2004-11-02Ohio Evangelical Turnout Delivers Bush Reelection: "Values Voters" Become the Decisive Electoral Bloc 2 src
George W. Bush
confirmed
2004-06-24Supreme Court Protects Cheney Energy Task Force Secrecy 3 src
Dick Cheney · U.S. Supreme Court · Anthony Kennedy · Antonin Scalia · +2
confirmed
2004-06-04Stewart v. Blackwell Applies Bush v. Gore Equal Protection Precedent to Ohio Voting Disparities 4 src confirmed
2004-02-24Bush Endorses Federal Marriage Amendment: Anti-Gay-Marriage Constitutional Strategy Becomes Republican Turnout Infrastructure
George W. Bush · Focus on the Family · Family Research Council · James Dobson
confirmed
2003-01-01State Policy Network Organizational Profile: Coordinating 66 State Think Tanks for Synchronized Corporate Capture 4 src
State Policy Network · Bradley Foundation · DonorsTrust · Mackinac Center · +2
confirmed
2002-10-29Help America Vote Act Signed: Provisional Ballots, Voter ID, and Electronic Voting Vulnerabilities 4 src
George W. Bush · U.S. Election Assistance Commission
confirmed
2002-09-15Major Network News Divisions Integrate WHIG Messaging Guidelines 3 src
White House Iraq Group · Dick Cheney · Karl Rove · Condoleezza Rice · +1
confirmed
2001-10-26Bush Signs PATRIOT Act After 45-Day Rush with Minimal Debate 3 src
George W. Bush · Tom Daschle
confirmed
2001-06-01Abramoff-Reed Casino Scheme: Evangelical Infrastructure Monetized as Lobbying Weapon, Exposing Movement-Money Entanglement 3 src
Jack Abramoff · Ralph Reed · Grover Norquist · Michael Scanlon · +1
confirmed
2000-12-12Supreme Court Delivers Partisan Bush v. Gore Decision with Corporate Legal Team Involvement 4 src
George W. Bush · Al Gore · William Rehnquist · Sandra Day O'Connor · +5
confirmed
2000-12-09Supreme Court Grants Bush Emergency Stay with Scalia's "Irreparable Harm" Logic 6 src
Antonin Scalia · William Rehnquist · Clarence Thomas · Sandra Day O'Connor · +1
confirmed
2000-11-26Katherine Harris Certifies Bush Victory While Serving as Campaign Co-Chair 5 src
George W. Bush
confirmed
2000-11-08James Baker Coordinates Bush Supreme Court Election Strategy from Day One 4 src
George W. Bush · Republican Party
confirmed
2000-01-01CNP and Federalist Society Coordination - Leonard Leo Links Judicial and Political Networks 2 src
Council for National Policy · Federalist Society · Leonard Leo · Clarence Thomas
confirmed
2000-01-01Florida Disenfranchises 1.4 Million Citizens Through Felony Voting Bans, Highest Rate in Nation 4 src
Florida Legislature
confirmed
1998-03-24Dobson Letter to GOP: Evangelical Base Demonstrates Veto Power Over Republican Agenda 3 src
James Dobson · Focus on the Family · Tom DeLay · Republican Party · +1
confirmed
1998-02-07James Dobson Threatens to Lead Evangelical Exodus from GOP: Focus on the Family Demonstrates Political Leverage 2 src
James Dobson · Focus on the Family · Republican Party
confirmed
1997-10-04Promise Keepers' "Stand in the Gap" Rally Fills National Mall: Masculine Christianity as Political Infrastructure 2 src confirmed
1997-06-11Ralph Reed Leaves Christian Coalition, Founds Century Strategies: Evangelical Political Infrastructure Professionalizes into Permanent Lobbying-Consulting Complex 3 src
Ralph Reed · Christian Coalition · Pat Robertson
confirmed
1997-01-01Felon Disenfranchisement Expansion: States Tighten Voting Bans as Prison Population Explodes 16 src
State Legislatures · American Legislative Exchange Council · Republican Governors
confirmed
1996-09-21Clinton Signs DOMA: Christian-Right Marriage-Defense Coalition Wins First Federal Culture-War Legislative Victory 3 src
Bill Clinton · Christian Coalition · Focus on the Family · James Dobson · +1
confirmed
1996-07-03Oligarchs Bankroll Yeltsin Re-election Victory: 'Seven Bankers' Control 50-70% of Russia's Economy Through Loans-for-Shares Deal 4 src
Boris Yeltsin · Boris Berezovsky · Mikhail Khodorkovsky · Vladimir Gusinsky · +1
confirmed
1996-06-18Chinese Military Intelligence Funnels Campaign Donations Through Johnny Chung 4 src
Bill Clinton · Democratic National Committee
confirmed
1995-04-01IMF Approves $6.8 Billion Russia Loan With Structural Adjustment Conditions: Second Largest Loan in IMF History Fails to Stabilize Economy 4 src
International Monetary Fund · Boris Yeltsin · Bill Clinton · World Bank · +1
confirmed
1994-11-08California Proposition 187 Passes 59-41, Galvanizes Latino Voter Mobilization 9 src
American Civil Liberties Union
confirmed
1994-11-08Christian Coalition Distributes 33 Million Voter Guides, Powers Republican Revolution: Evangelical Electoral Machine at Peak Capacity 3 src
Ralph Reed · Pat Robertson · Christian Coalition · Newt Gingrich · +1
confirmed
1994-11-08Republicans Win Historic Midterm Election with Contract with America 3 src
Newt Gingrich · Dick Armey · Richard Mellon Scaife · Joseph Coors · +1
confirmed
1994-03-29"Evangelicals and Catholics Together" Published: Colson-Neuhaus Cross-Confessional Coalition Treaty Formalizes Culture-War Alliance 3 src
Chuck Colson · Pat Robertson
confirmed
1994-01-01Jack Abramoff Joins Preston Gates - Launches Tribal Lobbying Practice 3 src
Jack Abramoff · Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians · Grover Norquist
confirmed
1993-05-20National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter): Expands Registration Access Despite Republican Opposition and Implementation Resistance 3 src
Bill Clinton · U.S. Congress · Republican Governors · League of Women Voters
confirmed
1993-01-01Grover Norquist Wednesday Meetings Begin - Conservative Coordination Hub 3 src
Grover Norquist · Americans for Tax Reform
confirmed
1992-08-17Pat Buchanan Declares "Religious War" at Houston RNC: Culture-War Frame Enters Mainstream Republican Politics 2 src
Republican Party · Christian Coalition
confirmed
1992-01-01Christian Coalition Distributes 40 Million Voter Guides Through Churches: Electoral Infrastructure Embedded in Religious Institutions 2 src
Pat Robertson · Ralph Reed · Christian Coalition
confirmed
1990-01-01Union Avoidance Consulting Industry Emerges as $400+ Million Annual Business 3 src
Corporate employers · National Labor Relations Board
confirmed
1988-09-21Bush Campaign Deploys Willie Horton Ad Weaponizing Racial Fear of Black Criminals 4 src
George H.W. Bush · Roger Ailes
confirmed
1987-01-01AIDS Death Toll Reaches 25,000: Reagan Administration Inaction Continues 3 src
Ronald Reagan
confirmed
1986-10-22Koop Releases AIDS Report After Five-Year Delay: Public Health vs Politics 3 src
C. Everett Koop · Ronald Reagan · U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
confirmed
1985-01-01Council of Conservative Citizens Founded by Former White Citizens' Councils Members to Continue Segregationist Agenda 32 srcconfirmed
1982-11-01RNC Signs Consent Decree Banning Voter Intimidation After Armed Ballot Security Task Force 4 src
Republican National Committee · Democratic National Committee
confirmed
1982-06-29Voting Rights Act Extension of 1982: Results Test Adopted, Section 2 Strengthened After Reagan Opposition 3 src
Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress · Bob Dole · Edward Kennedy
confirmed
1982-04-25Federalist Society Organizational Profile: Judicial Pipeline and Conservative Legal Movement Infrastructure 4 src
Federalist Society · Leonard Leo · Steven Calabresi · David McIntosh · +7
confirmed
1981-05-01Tim LaHaye Founds Council for National Policy: The Shadow Network That Coordinates the American Right 3 src
Tim LaHaye · Paul Weyrich · Richard Viguerie · Howard Phillips · +1
confirmed
1981-01-01Reagan Administration Muzzles Surgeon General Koop on AIDS for Five Years 4 src
C. Everett Koop · Ronald Reagan · U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
confirmed
1980-11-04Ronald Reagan Elected President, Conservative Infrastructure Achieves Powell Memo Goals 3 src
Ronald Reagan · Heritage Foundation · Paul Weyrich · Edwin Feulner · +2
confirmed
1979-06-01Moral Majority Founded - Corporate Agenda Masked by Religious Cultural Warfare 3 src
Paul Weyrich · Jerry Falwell · Richard Viguerie · Howard Phillips · +1
confirmed
1978-11-07Business Roundtable Coordinates First Major Corporate PAC Election Strategy 4 src
Business Roundtable · Republican Party
confirmed
1978-04-26Powell delivers Bellotti decision establishing corporate First Amendment rights 3 src
Lewis F. Powell Jr. · Supreme Court of the United States · Corporate interests
confirmed
1977-01-01National Association of Business PACs Founded to Coordinate Corporate Political Money 2 src confirmed
1975-08-06Voting Rights Act Extension of 1975: Expands Protection to Language Minorities Including Latino, Asian, and Native American Voters 3 src
Gerald Ford · U.S. Congress
confirmed
1975-04-14Federal Election Commission Begins Operations, Institutionalizing Corporate PAC Framework 2 src
Federal Election Commission · Gerald Ford
confirmed
1975-02-21Nixon Top Aides Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Mitchell Sentenced to Prison for Watergate Cover-up 3 src
H.R. Haldeman · John Ehrlichman · John Sirica
confirmed
1974-10-15FECA Amendments Enable Corporate PAC Formation, Triggering 1,600% Growth 2 src
U.S. Congress · Federal Election Commission
confirmed
1974-08-09Richard Nixon Becomes First U.S. President to Resign, Gerald Ford Sworn In as 38th President 3 src
Richard Nixon · Gerald Ford
confirmed
1974-01-01Weyrich Founds Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, Expanding Infrastructure 2 src
Paul Weyrich · Joseph Coors
confirmed
1970-06-22Voting Rights Act Extension of 1970: Nationwide Literacy Test Ban and Voting Age Lowered to 18 3 src
Richard Nixon · U.S. Congress · Emanuel Celler · John Mitchell
confirmed
1970-01-01Richard Viguerie Pioneers Computerized Direct Mail, Revolutionizing Conservative Fundraising 3 src
Richard Viguerie · Paul Weyrich · Howard Phillips · Terry Dolan
confirmed
1968-11-05Nixon Wins Presidency Using Southern Strategy Based on Racial Resentment 3 src
Richard Nixon · H.R. Haldeman · Republican Party
confirmed
1968-10-22Nixon Campaign Sabotages Vietnam Peace Talks Through Anna Chennault to Win Election - Johnson Calls It Treason 4 src
Richard Nixon · H.R. Haldeman · John Mitchell · Lyndon B. Johnson
confirmed
1965-09-08Delano Grape Strike Launches UFW Movement, Challenges Agricultural Corporations 3 src
United Farm Workers
confirmed
1965-03-11Reverend James Reeb Dies After White Supremacist Attack in Selma, Killers Acquitted by All-White Jury 3 src
Lyndon B. Johnson
confirmed
1965-03-07Alabama State Troopers Attack Voting Rights Marchers on Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma Bloody Sunday 3 src
John Lewis · Lyndon B. Johnson
confirmed
1964-06-21Mississippi Burning Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner During Freedom Summer Voter Registration 3 src
Ku Klux Klan · Federal Bureau of Investigation
confirmed
1964-01-2324th Amendment Ratified Abolishing Poll Tax in Federal Elections After Decades of Voter Suppression 2 src
U.S. Congress · State Legislatures
confirmed
1963-09-15KKK Bombs 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Killing Four Young Girls 3 src
Ku Klux Klan · Federal Bureau of Investigation
confirmed
1963-08-28March on Washington Draws 250,000 for Jobs and Freedom as MLK Delivers I Have a Dream Speech 3 src
Martin Luther King Jr. · John F. Kennedy
confirmed
1963-08-01Business-Industry Political Action Committee Founded as First Corporate PAC 3 src
National Association of Manufacturers
confirmed
1960-05-06Civil Rights Act of 1960: Voting Referees and Criminal Penalties Still Prove Inadequate Against Southern Resistance 3 src
Dwight D. Eisenhower · U.S. Congress · Lyndon B. Johnson · Southern Democrats · +1
confirmed
1960-02-01Greensboro Four Launch Sit-In Movement at Woolworth Lunch Counter Challenging Segregation 3 srcconfirmed
1957-09-09Civil Rights Act of 1957: First Federal Voting Rights Law Since Reconstruction Passes Despite Southern Filibuster 3 src
Dwight D. Eisenhower · Lyndon B. Johnson · Strom Thurmond · Richard Russell · +1
confirmed
1956-03-29Mississippi Creates State Sovereignty Commission for Civil Rights Surveillance and Segregationist Funding 3 src
White Citizens' Councils
confirmed
1955-08-28Emmett Till Murdered in Mississippi After Accusation from White Woman 3 srcconfirmed
1954-12-02Senate Votes 67-22 to Censure Joseph McCarthy Ending Four Years of Terror 3 src
Joseph McCarthy
confirmed
1950-06-01Margaret Chase Smith Delivers Declaration of Conscience Against McCarthy Witch Hunt 3 src
Joseph McCarthy
confirmed
1947-06-23Anti-Communist Loyalty Oaths and Taft-Hartley Act Weaponized to Crush Labor Movement 6 src
CIO · AFL
confirmed
1944-04-03Smith v. Allwright: Supreme Court Strikes Down White Primaries, Opening Democratic Party to Black Voters 3 src
U.S. Supreme Court · Thurgood Marshall · NAACP Legal Defense Fund
confirmed
1933-01-15Ferdinand Pecora Appointed Chief Counsel to Senate Banking Investigation 3 src
Ferdinand Pecora · Senator Duncan Fletcher · U.S. Senate Committee on Banking and Currency
confirmed
1932-07-28MacArthur Uses Tanks and Tear Gas to Violently Suppress Bonus Army of 43,000 Veterans 3 src
Herbert Hoover · Dwight D. Eisenhower · U.S. Army
confirmed
1926-08-06Gertrude Ederle Swims English Channel But Era Constrains Women's Progress 2 srcconfirmed
1924-06-02Revenue Act of 1924 Continues Mellon Tax Cuts for Wealthy, Lowers Top Rate to 46% 3 src
Andrew Mellon · Calvin Coolidge · U.S. Congress · Republican Party
confirmed
1920-08-18Tennessee Becomes 36th State to Ratify 19th Amendment as Women Win Right to Vote 3 src
Tennessee General Assembly
confirmed
1919-06-04Senate Passes 19th Amendment Sending Women's Suffrage to States for Ratification 3 src
U.S. Senate · U.S. House of Representatives · Woodrow Wilson · National Woman's Party
confirmed