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Seattle's radical plan to fight big money in politics

Sarah Kliff

November 05, 2018 |

Vox |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Seattle tripled the number of people who contributed to local political campaigns by giving each resident $100 in “democracy vouchers” to contribute to the candidate of their choice. The concept was to counter the effect of big money in politics. Although the program was a widely popular idea, it ended up being expensive to run and only 3.3 percent of residents who received the vouchers actually used them.

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An evidence-based way to help fix our broken politics

Jeff Grabmeier

November 05, 2018 |

Ohio State News |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

If elected representatives have a few hours to speak with their constituents, where’s what they should do: discuss policy issues online with a small group of randomly selected constituents. Participants appreciate the opportunity to speak with their representatives, rate them more highly, and are more likely to vote for them – even months later. The evidence supporting this method of engaging constituents is so compelling that researchers will present their work to all new members of Congress this year.

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How to tackle populism: Rebuild rural civic life

Fergus Peace

November 02, 2018 |

Apolitical |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Nebraska

Access to civic institutions, such as local newspapers, arts facilities, churches, and even breweries, help people feel more connected to their communities and less inclined to support populist candidates. Rural areas suffering from a lack of strong civic institutions are experimenting with promoting local businesses, organizing town halls, and even designing town mascots.

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Hospitals help patients get out the vote while stuck in bed

Kristen de Groot

November 02, 2018 |

Associated Press |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Some hospitals are finding ways to help their patients vote. Penn Votes Project is an initiative between hospitals and the Penn Law School that helps patients fill out and notarize their absentee ballots. Then there’s Patientvoting.com where patients can find information on medical absentee voting by state. “Every citizen of the United States has the right to vote and we think getting ill shouldn’t impair that process.”

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The Seattle Experiment

Kenny Malone

November 02, 2018 |

NPR |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Seattle’s “Democracy Vouchers,” funded by a ballot measure to increase property taxes, provide money for residents to make campaign contributions, which increases civic participation and helps people running for office without political connections fund their campaigns. Every city resident receives four 25$ vouchers that they can sign over to the candidate of their choice and mail back in a pre-stamped envelope. Even though only 3% of vouchers were actually used, the number of people contributing to campaigns tripled and several non-establishment candidates were able to run campaigns and get elected.

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These election tools are here to help you make sense of your long, complicated ballot

Adele Peters

November 02, 2018 |

FastCompany |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

Easy-to-use web apps provide information about candidates and referendums, gathering information all in one place for voters. BallotReady and We Vote are two such tools.

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Thousands of American Indian voters in N.D. getting free IDs

Blake Nicholson

October 31, 2018 |

Associated Press |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Bismarck, North Dakota

In the face of stricter voter ID rules, organizers are working to ensure that those deemed ineligible to vote in North Dakota because of their lack of street address - a group that is disproportionately Native American - are given a chance to participate in America's democracy. So far, projects spearheaded by groups like the Lakota People's Law Project and funded by donations have provided around 2,000 IDs.

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In North Dakota, Native Americans Try to Turn an ID Law to Their Advantage

Maggie Astor

October 30, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Great Sioux Nation, United States, Fort Yates, North Dakota

After a Republican led state law that bans people without an address from voting took effect, Native American tribes in North Dakota began organizing to get out the vote. They even began creating their own addresses. They teamed up with Claremont Graduate University in California and overlaid “ voting precinct maps on satellite images of the reservations and assigned each precinct one address.” “The right to vote can be taken for granted until someone tries to take it away from you, and then it can be the reason you do vote.”

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'A labor of love': Postcard campaign writers seek to increase voter turnout in midterm elections

Sylvie Sturm

October 30, 2018 |

Local News Matters |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

After lackluster experiences phone banking during the 2016 presidential election, volunteers altered their strategy to write postcards to citizens to turn out the vote in the 2018 mid-term elections. Writing postcards was seen as a viable, and personal, alternative to door knocking, phone banking, mass leafleting, and even relatively modern techniques like mass texting.

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Law & Disorder: Progressive Prosecutors Hope to Dismantle Mass Incarceration

Manny Faces

October 30, 2018 |

News Beat |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Across the United States, individuals and organizations are seeking to shift the criminal justice system through District Attorney elections. From online communities like colorofchange.org, which seeks to support grassroots election efforts, to individuals like Minnesota’s Mark Haase, who is running on a platform of diversity and inclusion, to the Texas Organizing Project that wants to empower Black and Latinx communities, each of these missions seeks to create more equity and transparency in the criminal justice system.

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