Maine Tests a New Way of Voting, and Opts to Keep It

B. Godihal is one of the thousands of communities in Karnataka that have worked to hold clean elections, stirred by a confluence of awareness campaigns by nongovernmental organizations and rising public frustration with candidates’ broken promises.

In Takoma Park, Maryland, the voting age for local elections is 16. Lowering the age has increased turnout among youth—and studies show that the sooner people start to vote, the more likely they are to be lifetime voters.

In Iowa, the “redistricting” of the state’s legislative and congressional boundaries is done by mapmakers who abide by nonpartisan metrics that all sides agree are fair — a seemingly revolutionary concept in the high-stakes decennial rite of redistricting.

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.

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.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Berkeley say that Connecticut’s “permit-to-purchase” law requiring people to get a purchasing license before buying a handgun - despite early criticism - was actually a huge success for public safety in reducing gun homicides, especially relative to other states.

Low voter turnout has affected the results of numerous elections across the country. Oregon gave its residents the choice to opt in instead of out when receiving government services, in the hopes of increasing voter turnout.

Hospitals in Omaha are creating “medical-legal partnerships” for their patients: teams of doctors, social workers and lawyers that work collaboratively with patients to help them navigate challenges like fighting to get Medicaid coverage for a cat scan, or getting a security deposit back and moving out of an apartment that’s making them sicker.

For the third election in a row, House Republicans got bonus seats in 2016, through gerrymandering. Thanks to a grassroots citizen movement and computer sleuthing, Florida admitted to breaking the law and has replaced state maps with more competitive, voter-friendly districts.

To address the increasing unaffordability of housing in Berlin, the city introduced a new rent control law to prevent rates from exponential growth. The city has also outlawed vacation rentals in certain zones of the city and created a program that aims to have 30,000 new rental properties available over the next decade.