‘Blind date' for political rivals? TV show is breaking down barriers.

Sara Miller Llana

May 05, 2021 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada

The Canadian reality show, “Political Blind Date,” pairs two politicians from opposing sides to spend two days together visiting each other’s constituents and wrestling with difficult issues. Fifty politicians have participated over five seasons, averaging about 195,000 viewers per episode. The aim is not to get them to change their minds, but to humanize people with opposing political beliefs and break down the increasingly common ‘us versus them’ mindset in politics. Advocates say that this has a “trickle down” effect on viewers forging greater understanding and more respectful debate.

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Can “democracy dollars” keep real dollars out of politics?

Julia Hotz

April 28, 2021 |

MIT Technology Review |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Democracy Vouchers, a tax-payer-funded program that sends four $25 certificates to residents to donate to local candidates, made Seattle the national leader by increasing the percent of the electorate donating to local campaigns to nearly 8%. They also allow more non-establishment candidates, who lack connections to wealthy donors, to run for office. Four of the nine 2019 city council candidates used vouchers to help fund their campaigns and the vouchers are being expanded to the city’s mayoral races. A national pilot program was also approved to try vouchers for congressional candidates in three states.

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What Other States Can Learn from Georgia's Historic Elections

Fiza Pirani

April 08, 2021 |

Yes! Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

A complex combination of successful fundraising campaigns, engaging with and energizing Black voters, and mobilizing the state’s other ethnic and racial groups helped Democrats flip Georgia blue in 2020. Large financial investments allowed organizers to implement effective voter education and registration campaigns and distribute the resources to areas where the need to mobilize voters was greatest. Organizers tapped into Black culture through food, music, and the Black church to energize voters. They also conducted multiracial, multi-ethnic, and multilingual outreach to engage other marginalized groups.

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Local groups are working to keep 18-year-olds in PA excited about voting after record turnouts in 2021

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

April 01, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philly Youth Vote is a nonpartisan effort, organized by a local social studies teacher, to prepare 18-year-olds to vote. In addition to registering about 700 students in the summer of 2020, the group advocates changing social studies curriculum to include more lessons on civic participation. To connect students with on local issues that directly impact them, they brought 27 candidates to speak in 11 virtual classrooms. The students interviewed the candidates and other schools have used the recordings of the interviews as well. 74% of registered 18-year-olds in Philadelphia cast a ballot in 2020.

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The 'Army Of Environmental Super Voters' Is Growing, And Marching On City Hall

Alexander Kaufman

March 18, 2021 |

The Huffington Post |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

The Environmental Voter Project has contacted nearly 6.2 million non-voters that care about the environment in 17 states since 2015, estimating that over 733,000 of them now vote regularly. They identify voters using demographic and behavioral data, verify the data using surveys, and apply algorithms to predict “super environmentalists,” focusing on people who don’t vote. They concentrate on local elections, such as mayoral races, and call, text, and knock-on voters’ doors. They also fundraise, increasing donations from about $475,000 in 2017 to nearly $2.7 million in 2020, mostly from small donors.

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Beyond language: How to enfranchise voters who don't speak English

Emily Previti

March 03, 2021 |

The GroundTruth Project |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Orange County, California

Orange County is a gold standard for supporting voters who aren’t fluent in English. All voting materials come in multiple languages and online databases and voting equipment are compatible with the multilingual system. The county works with community groups and hires native speakers to translate materials for increased accuracy. The county's bilingual workforce has steadily increased, with 30% of election workers now speaking the native language of the voters needing support. Due to the pandemic, language support was provided by video conference, an option that will continue to be available in the future.

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How a legacy of organizing among domestic workers helped turn Georgia blue

Becca Andrews

March 01, 2021 |

Mother Jones |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

The domestic worker advocacy group, Care in Action, fell short in their goal to elect Stacey Abrams in 2018, which motivated them to mobilize an effective GOTV campaign in 2020. Over 250 of their members canvassed local neighborhoods each day, knocking on over 1 million doors. Overall, the group contacted 5.85 million voters by phone, mail, or in person. The group prioritized making connections with people historically overlooked in the political process and the member organizers make meaningful connections as canvassers because they share similar challenges and concerns as the people whose homes they visit.

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Monterey County kickstarts Youth Civic Engagement Program

Sydney Brown

February 26, 2021 |

Voices of Monterey Bay |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Monterey Bay, California

College students in Monterey Bay are pairing up with K-12 classrooms to teach students about civic engagement. The college students are then invited to give presentations during class time on topics ranging from the census to environmental justice. The program is a partnership between California State University - Monterey Bay and the Monterey County Office of Education, and also helps students fulfill a required community service credits.

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Boosting Voter Turnout: Seth Flaxman

Richard Davies Jim Meigs

February 13, 2021 |

How Do We Fix It? |

Podcast |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Democracy Works has a suite of programs that make it easier to vote. TurboVote helps its 7 million subscribers easily register to vote by taking them to their state's online registration site or by sending them the paperwork with envelopes pre-addressed to their county election office. The service also sends emails and texts to remind users to vote, as well as with other deadlines and their polling location. Their Voting Information Project provides data for all districts in the U.S. that groups, such as Google and Facebook, use to provide their users with their polling place location information.

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American Democracy Is Only 55 Years Old—And Hanging by a Thread

Vann R. Newkirk II

February 11, 2021 |

The Atlantic |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Mississippi

The federal Voting Rights Act required states to ensure access to the polls for Black voters and created federal enforcement mechanisms. The law worked well in the Jim Crow South, but it wasn't built to deal with racial disenfranchisement more broadly. Congress and the courts have stripped important provisions from the bill over time, like those ensuring enforcement. A 2013 Supreme Court ruling dismissed the need for preemptive measures to protect Black voters, which created an opening for states to pass more restrictive voting laws that have created unfair burdens for Black, Latino, and Indigenous voters.

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