Automatic Voter Registration a ‘Success' in Oregon

The Bossier Term Limits Coalition formed to prevent their local government from being filled with entrenched politicians by gathering signatures to put term limits on the ballot. Despite obstacles in legitimizing their petition in the eyes of the court, the group’s measure eventually passed with more than 80% of the vote.

The student-led Youth Informed Club educates youth about the importance of voting and how elections work, engaging them in debates and informational sessions so they can make informed voting decisions. Participants of the Club leave with a better understanding of how to get involved with politics, as well as a greater sense of hope about the political landscape and their interactions with it.

Thanks in part to increased activism in light of COVID-19-related racism and targeted, multilingual outreach by voter advocacy organizations, turnout among Asian American voters increased by roughly 47 percent between 2016 and 2020.

Because Arabic-speakers are not entitled to translated election materials under the Voting Rights Act, Michigan organizers in Dearborn and Hamtramck instead took the issue to their city councils and were able to secure local legislation requiring the communities to provide Arabic-language ballots. The new resource was available for the first time during the August primary.

Pennsylvania uses ERIC, or the Electronic Registration Information Center, to cross-check its voter rolls against Department of Motor Vehicle data from other states to identify voters who have moved and become "inactive." In 2020, state and county leaders reported they removed more than 180,000 out-of-state residents and 80,000 deceased voters.

Governments, companies, and nonprofits are using a strategy called "pre-bunking" to teach people the tactics and strategies behind misinformation so that they can recognize and scrutinize it when they see it online. After Twitter released several dozen pre-bunks about elections in the United States and Brazil, about 39 percent of users they surveyed said they were more confident that there wouldn't be election fraud, and about half said they were able to pause and question what they saw in online posts.

To ensure election security, the Board of Elections in Warren County, New Jersey, provides oversight for every step of the voting process, from troubleshooting issues at polling sites on Election Day to reaching out to voters to help them "cure" mistakes made on mail-in ballots. Warren County has not had a recount since 2013, when it upheld the result of a primary election in which the candidates were separated by only 18 votes.

The Sequim Good Governance League (SGGL) formed in response to right-wing agitators taking over positions of power and spreading misinformation. SGGL recruited progressive and moderately conservative candidates who successfully defeated incumbents with the help of dozens of volunteers they trained. Volunteers worked around the clock, sent out emails, put up signs around the town, and used their most effective tool: having one-on-one conversations with other residents. SGGL-backed candidates now hold the majority of government offices.

A new California law makes universal mail-in voting permanent after it was temporarily adopted for the 2020 election in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Expansion of mail-in voting in 2020 resulted in higher voter turnout, especially among low-income and communities of color. Moving forward, all voters will receive a ballot in the mail 29 days before each election. Voters can fill out their ballot, return it using a prepaid envelope or drop it in a secure drop box, and track in transit online. They also still have the choice to vote in person.

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.