Could A Ward Map Drawn By Citizens, Instead Of Aldermen, Become A Reality In Chicago?

Almost half of U.S. states guarantee citizens’ rights to petition for ballot measures, but the coronavirus made gathering signatures in person infeasible. Massachusetts courts allowed electronic signatures, but other states have not approved virtual citizen initiative campaigns. Ballot initiatives allow citizens to advance solutions and enact structural changes without relying on support from elected officials. MA groups used DocuSign to gather 30,000 signatures to get a proposal for ranked choice voting on the ballot. Not all MA groups were able to quickly or successfully pivot to the e-signature process.

A grassroots campaign ended gerrymandering in Michigan by passing an initiative requiring districts be drawn by citizen-commissions rather than politicians. The all-volunteer campaign went door-to-door collecting enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot and used creative voter-engagement techniques to sustain the support. Once the ballot initiative passed, 9,300 people applied for the first commission. A third-party firm ultimately selected four Democrats, four Republicans, and five non-partisan people as commissioners, who worked together very well to redraw districts.

Low voter turnouts, populists offering half-truths, corporate interests, and the blurring of facts in the media are signs that democracy around the world is in turmoil. Internationally, citizens have assembled different programs and initiatives that arm ordinary people with information about policy and their elected officials, as well as distinctive ways to reform the electoral system.

Virginia’s VRA protects voters from suppression, discrimination, and intimidation and has effectively stopped racial gerrymandering and intimidation. Its pro-voting measures include requiring materials in multiple languages, the provision of accessibility accommodations, and requiring public review of any local level voting changes. The legislation also creates a pathway for Virginians to bring civil lawsuits if a procedure negatively impacts economically disadvantaged communities or communities of color.

Voters Not Politicians is a grassroots initiative that, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, ran a successful campaign to defeat gerrymandering in Michigan. The state has a citizen-led ballot initiative option, so the group held townhall meetings and gathered over 410,000 voter signatures to get the initiative on the statewide ballot. The measure was challenged in courts, but the group raised funds for legal help and the initiative passed by a margin of 61-39 percent. The new law requires that an independent group of average citizens will decide district boundaries with full transparency.

The Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies provides a "blueprint" for peaceful and democratic revolution, busting myths about the process of nonviolent revolt and helping dissidents in countries around the world to accomplish political goals, such as fighting corruption or protecting the environment.

A year after Bristol convened a randomly selected 60-person citizens’ assembly, which brought together a representative and diverse group of residents to tackle complex issues facing the city, they have delivered a set of recommendations. The panel produced 17 recommendations, with a total of 82 associated actions on three topics: climate, transport and health. Fourteen recommendations have been fully agreed to and eight have been dismissed. Participants also report positive effects of being able to work together across diverse ideologies and experiences, as well as from the civic participation more broadly.

In order to cut carbon emissions in France, President Emmanuel Macron created an assembly of 150 randomly selected citizens. The citizens "convention on climate" met and deliberated for months before releasing 149 proposals on how the government should address climate change. Although only 10 made it into law without being altered, and 36 others were included form, the final legislation was one of the most comprehensive passed in the history of the country. The recommendations also garnered conversations and inspired the creation of other assemblies.

Seattle’s democracy vouchers program provides residents with four $25 vouchers to donate to local political candidates of their choice, with the goal of making it easier for citizens to participate in local elections while also leveling the playing field for a wider range of candidates. Research on the program found that it has helped increase the number of unique donors and made local elections more competitive.

To end prison gerrymandering, the city council in Wilmington, Delaware, counted people who are incarcerated in the local prison at their last address in the city for the 2020 Census. People who are incarcerated there but did not live in Wilmington were not counted.