Feedback Machines Challenge Ugandan Public Officials to 'Do Better'

Estonia's e-governance system allows citizens to register for social programs, access health records, and complete most government business digitally. In March 2023, more than half of the country's voters cast their ballots via the internet for the first time.

The Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability's "deliberative town halls" pair willing lawmakers with a random, representative sample of constituents so voters can share feedback and ask questions without being drowned out by the loudest voices in political spaces. All participants are given the same background materials created by a nonpartisan source to inform their discussion, which means there's no squabbling over establishing basic facts, and politicians must adapt to the natural flow of conversation rather than relying on canned talking points.

Residents who participated in Michigan’s first year of early in-person voting say they appreciated the shorter lines, the convenience to vote on their own schedules, and the ability to feed their ballots into polling place tabulators themselves. Nearly 4,600 voters cast their ballots early in-person across the state.

In Oregon, voters are automatically registered when they get their driver's license, and voters are automatically sent a ballot when election time comes. The state had the highest turnout rate in the country in the 2022 midterm election, with 61.5% of eligible citizens casting a ballot.

New York City's Civic Engagement Commission has run two pilot projects implementing participatory budgeting, a process in which local residents help decide how local funding should be allocated. The latest pilot project allocated $1.3 million to 33 projects in "priority" neighborhoods, including youth sports programs and culturally-based mental health workshops.

GARViS, Georgia’s new system for documenting voter records, stores information on roughly 7 million active voters and hundreds of thousands of inactive voters, including their addresses, assigned polling places, sample ballots, and early voting schedules. The George Secretary of State’s Office reports that the new system has helped cut down check-in time on election day from about a minute and a half per voter to about 47 seconds per voter, streamlining the process for both poll workers and residents.

In an effort to fight government corruption, an initiative called Tracka monitors public spending allocations and holds town hall meetings in communities across Nigeria to educate residents about the budgeting process. The organization has engaged 967 communities and helped hold officials accountable for projects that were funded but never completed, such as an electricity substation in Kawu.

In an effort to minimize disruptions from impassioned poll watchers, one Texas county enhanced transparency by offering tours of the elections office, installing large TV screens to broadcast the tabulation process, publicly posting often-requested information online, and hosting workshops to walk residents through every step of election procedures. The county has been praised for its approach and the 2022 midterm election went off without any outbursts from voting activists.

Through the Estonian government's e-services, which include digital options for voting, paying taxes, storing identification, and more, the country saved roughly €280 million over the span of a decade thanks to the lower cost of collecting digital signatures.

Los Angeles County’s Flex Vote Center Program establishes polling locations at shelters, transitional housing sites, and service centers for people who are unhoused or face other barriers to voting. In 2020, nearly 2,800 people cast their ballots through the Flex program.