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Primary Turnout Surged in Wards 7 and 8. Mail-In Voting Is a Big Reason Why.

Alex Koma

August 23, 2022 |

Washington City Paper |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Following the expansion of mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington, D.C. mailed a ballot directly to every eligible voter in its 2022 primary election. The strategy is considered a crucial factor contributing to increased voter turnout in two of the city's poorest and most underserved wards, which saw their highest percentage of eligible voters casting ballots since the 2010 primary.

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Can computer simulations help fix democracy?

Harry Stevens

August 22, 2022 |

The Washington Post |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Ohio

Ohio is among 11 states where voters are challenging newly-drawn political maps using algorithmic redistricting, a process that produces thousands of simulations to help show which of the potential maps are outliers and may be the result of gerrymandering. Based on this algorithmic evidence, an Ohio court ordered the state's redistricting commission to go back to the drawing board and come up with a fairer map.

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TIRRC Votes harnesses "Black and brown political power"

Dulce Torres Guzman

August 15, 2022 |

Tennessee Lookout |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Tennessee

Ahead of Tennessee's August 2022 primary, organizations such as TIRRC (Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition) Votes and the Effendi Foundation targeted their outreach toward immigrant communities to increase turnout in key elections, resulting in wins for several TIRRC-endorsed candidates. The organizations relied on culturally-relevant strategies, including employing engagement coordinators from multiple countries, bringing candidates to speak at local mosques, and using community-specific language in written outreach.

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‘Better for democracy': Two US cities offer Arabic voting ballots

Ali Harb

August 03, 2022 |

Al Jazeera |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Michigan

Municipal officials in two southeast Michigan communities exercised their local governing power to bypass federal voting legislation that does not include Arab Americans among the "disenfranchised communities" with a right to receive election ballots in their first language. Through a city council resolution and collaboration among county officials, the Michigan Secretary of State, and Dominion Voting Systems, the cities offered Arabic ballots for the 2022 state primary, which is thought to be the first example of Arabic-language ballots being offered in a state-organized election in the United States.

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For the many or the few?

Jenna Spinelle

August 01, 2022 |

When the People Decide |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Florida

In Florida, formerly incarcerated people were at the forefront of efforts to rally support for a ballot initiative to allow residents with certain felony convictions back into the voting booth. Amendment 4 was successfully passed, restoring voting rights for many formerly incarcerated Floridians, and research studying other ballot initiatives in the United States has shown that these direct referendums have given the majority of the country's population policies that they approve of.

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Group seeks to turn Arizona's primaries into nonpartisan elections

Caitlin Schmidt

July 30, 2022 |

Arizona Daily Star |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington

States such as Washington and California have nonpartisan "top-two" primaries, in which the top two vote getters move on to the general election regardless of their party affiliation. In Washington, voter turnout in primary elections has jumped from 18 percent in 2003, before the law went into effect, to nearly 55 percent in 2020.

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In California Cities, a New Frontier for Public Financing of Elections

Spenser Mestel

July 13, 2022 |

Bolts |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

To give less affluent political hopefuls a fighting chance in local races, Seattle's "democracy vouchers" program provides each resident with four $25 vouchers to donate to candidates of their choice. The initiative has nearly doubled the number of candidates running for city positions since 2015, and those using the vouchers are more likely than cash donors to be young and low-income, leading other cities, such as Oakland, Calif., to consider adopting similar programs.

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One Small Step for Democracy in a ‘Live Free or Die' Town

Dan Barry

July 10, 2022 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Croydon, New Hampshire

We Stand Up for Croydon Students formed as a backlash to severe school budget cuts that resulted from a lack of civic participation among residents. The nonpartisan group collected enough signatures to set a special meeting to overturn the budget and, to get at least 50% of the town’s residents to participate in order for a new vote to be binding, volunteers organized community members through door knocking, phone banks, and lawn signs.

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Hawaii's System Of Public Funding For Elections Doesn't Work

Chad Blair

July 10, 2022 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Seattle’s Democracy Voucher is an effective, yet underutilized, way to publicly fund political campaigns. The city sends four $25 vouchers to each registered voter, who chooses which candidates they want to receive their vouchers, and the city transfers the funds directly to the campaigns. Since the program started the number of donors increased and many candidates who successfully defeated incumbents had benefited from the program.

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How Pennsylvania keeps its voter rolls clean and updated

Denise Clay-Murray

June 28, 2022 |

Votebeat Pennsylvania |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania uses a comprehensive approach to maintain accurate voter roles. The state is a member of the Electronic Registration Information Center, which is a cross-state database that updates records of voters every 60 days based on interactions with the DMV. In addition, when a registered voter doesn’t vote in two consecutive federal election cycles, they are marked inactive and sent a request to confirm their residency. Those that do not respond with 30 days are removed from the rolls. All 67 counties are required to do annual maintenance of their voter rolls.

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