Old school still rules: Lee-Harvard's high census response rate could teach other neighborhoods a few tricks

Lee Chilcote, Conor Morris

September 22, 2020 |

The Land |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

The high census completion rate in Lee-Harvard, as high as 70%, compared to Cleveland’s 50% as a whole, is the result of regular meetings, pre-pandemic, to educate residents of the benefits of the census and dispel common myths. After the pandemic, volunteers at the community center’s monthly food distribution provided census-related information. A group of retired women, called the Ward 1 Volunteer Navigators, also went door-to-door to make sure everyone got counted. Because many of the residents are long time homeowners, neighbor-to-neighbor relationships also led more residents to complete the census.

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How Did These Students Get The City To Change The Name Of Douglass Park? They Built Collective Power And Didn't Back Down

Pascal Sabino

September 22, 2020 |

Block Club Chicago |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Chicago students organized and, for the first time, convinced the city to rename a park in honor of Frederick and Anna Murray Douglass. The former Douglas Park was named after a Civil War era Illinois senator who advocated to expand slavery, and whose wife owned slaves. Not daunted by the city’s bureaucracy, the students canvassed in their community and gathered over 10,000 signatures for a petition to change the park’s name. The campaign, which began in 2017, was much harder and longer than the students anticipated, but by forming a coalition and continuing to speak out they persevered.

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Voting from Jail Is a Right, and Now a Reality in Chicago

Pamela Kirkland

September 21, 2020 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Chicago's Cook County Jail became the first jail in the nation in March to open a polling place behind bars, resulting in about 1,800 voters casting ballots, a sharp increase in voting by eligible voters in the jail. The polling place, combined with expanded voter-registration efforts, resulted from a new Illinois law requiring all counties to expand voting access. Outside of Chicago that means voting by mail. The Chicago experience provides a window into efforts nationwide to expand voting access to people incarcerated in jails and prisons, or with criminal records.

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No Problems Expected For Hawaii's New Vote-By-Mail System For The Nov. 3 Election

Blaze Lovell

September 21, 2020 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Hawaii

Election officials in Hawaii made adjustments to their election regulations for the August 2020 primary that resulted in the highest voter turnout for a primary in two decades. The state offered multiple ways to return ballots and created a new system to help voters with special needs. They also implemented security measures, including unique bar codes and signature verification, to deter fraud. The state earned an “A” in the Brookings Institution’s ranking of states’ preparedness to vote during a pandemic and will use insights from the primary to increase access even more during the general election.

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Citizens' assemblies are increasingly popular

The Economist

September 19, 2020 |

The Economist |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ireland

Citizens' assemblies have been used in a number of countries to give groups of ordinary people the chance to grapple with big, difficult problems and then recommend what actions their governments should take. Assemblies in Ireland led to referenda on subjects long considered intractable, same-sex marriage and abortion, leading to public approval of liberalized policies. As in France, the key to success is when politicians actually listen. By hearing from experts and giving a range of views space to be heard, citizens' assemblies can move people off extreme positions toward compromise.

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Hi, There. Want to Triple Voter Turnout?

Tina Rosenberg

September 19, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Vote Tripling is a get-out-the-vote strategy where volunteers set up outside of polling places, a safer pandemic option, and ask voters to text three friends with a reminder to vote. A randomized trial showed turnout was nearly 8 percentage points higher among people receiving texts. The message to vote holds more weight coming from a friend and it empowers those doing the texting, who also receive an election day reminder to send the texts. To be most effective, the technique requires a busy polling place where proximity to the polling place is legally allowed.

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Can an Algorithm Help Solve Political Paralysis?

Julia Hotz

September 18, 2020 |

Scientific American |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Citizen assemblies bring together residents for in-depth discussions about solutions to social issues. This alternative form of democracy led to policy changes in many countries, including legalizing abortion in Ireland. In the UK, an algorithm was applied to form a 110-person “climate assembly.” In a multistage process, the algorithm selected a representative sample of the U.K.’s population, sometimes oversampling harder to reach groups to ensure inclusion. A small stipend was also offered to offset costs for people with lower incomes. The group submitted a final report with climate policy recommendations.

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Mail-ballot security in Montana: Verification, tracking, secrecy and counting

Mike Dennison

September 17, 2020 |

Missoula Current |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Montana

The majority of Montana voters have voted by mail for the past several elections without issues. Officials use several precautions that have successfully prevented fraud in the state. Each voter receives a postage-paid envelope with a unique bar code, and the ballot is placed in a “secrecy envelope” that is returned in the larger envelope, which is signed by the voter. Officials, who are trained in signature-matching, check each envelope and if there is a problem with the signature they reach out to voters, who are given a chance to fix the problem. Because of this, less than 1% of all ballots are rejected.

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This revolutionary housing reform bill out of Portland would bring relief to tons of Philadelphians

Jessica Blatt Press

September 16, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

Portland's new policy allowing for multi-family homes resulted from a long campaign of coalition building to address a need for middle-income housing that often gets overlooked in many cities. Although the Residential Infill Project will not take effect until August 2021, its enactment offers cities like Philadelphia lessons in strategic policymaking that overcomes entrenched views at opposite ends of the income and class spectrum, from property owners concerned about declining home values and advocates for low-income housing concerned about gentrification.

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How to Save Ballot Drop Boxes

Eric Cortellessa

September 16, 2020 |

Washington Monthly |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Voting by mail will increase dramatically due to Covid-19 and drop boxes are one way to collect these ballots. Although fears of fraud have been unfounded, the GOP initiated lawsuits to block or limit drop boxes if they are not monitored so some states and districts place the boxes in government buildings and other places, such as libraries, that are staffed. While this slightly limits the hours that voters can drop off their ballots, it uses existing resources to provide supervision and increases voter confidence that their ballots will be received, especially among ongoing issues with the postal service.

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