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It Takes a Friend to Get a Friend to Vote

Tina Rosenberg

March 19, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

A suite of new voting apps are bringing new technologies to old organizing methods, like asking (or shaming) friends to vote and finding community leaders to encourage voter turnout. These old methods, now called "relational organizing," are coming back into fashion in an age of impersonal elections, when strangers often reach out to strangers to ask them to vote and campaigns spend millions on Facebook and television ads.

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Faced with voting obstacles in North Dakota: 'We'll find a way'

Christine Trudeau

March 13, 2019 |

National Native News |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Fort Yates, North Dakota

When it became clear that legal challenges to North Dakota's new voter I.D. law would fail, organizers set up shop near Fort Yates on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to get out the vote. By helping voters on the reservation update their I.D.s with permanent physical addresses and filling out absentee ballots, the group managed to secure the voting rights of many who would have been disenfranchised by the new law just weeks before the midterm elections.

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Be a geofence: The story behind the technology that millennial-led Mississippi Votes uses to help more young Mississippians vote

R.L. Nave

March 12, 2019 |

Mississippi Today |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jackson, Mississippi

Geofencing, a smartphone technology typically associated with retail marketing, offers an innovative way to educate and register voters. In order to help mobilize voters in the face of shrinking turnout, the Mississippi nonprofit, Mississippi Votes, has implemented digital tools such as geofencing in its campaign. The initiative is part of the organization’s larger mission to create a culture of civic engagement.

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Closing the voter engagement gap in Metro Detroit

Aaron Mondry

March 08, 2019 |

Model D |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

To close the voting participation and engagement gap between historically disenfranchised groups and more affluent, white groups, organizations in Metropolitan Detroit are employing a number of strategies. One group, Girls Making Change, is creating a political leadership pipeline by mentoring high school girls of color over the summer. CitizenDetroit organizes voter education groups, candidate debates, and even bar trivia nights with a political theme.

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Denver will allow smartphone voting for thousands of people (but probably not you)

Andrew Kenney

March 07, 2019 |

The Denver Post |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

In the hopes of making voting more accessible, the city of Denver, Colorado will allow their international voters, a population of about 4,000, to vote electronically on an app called Voatz. Already used by about 144 voters in West Virginia during the 2018 election, Voatz uses blockchain technology, which stores user votes across encrypted servers. Though some have cited security concerns, many hope the voting app will replace the current more insecure digital method.

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How North Dakota tribes countered a restrictive voting law

Art Hughes

March 07, 2019 |

Native America Calling |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, North Dakota

Native American tribes, community groups, and nonprofits quickly responded to a North Dakota law requiring voter IDs with physical street addresses by holding information sessions, setting up stations to create instant tribal IDs, and placing volunteers at polling stations to assist those who wanted to vote actually be able to do so. Many tribal members rely on post office boxes and do not have an official address on their reservation. Despite some voters being turned away because of their ID, overall there was a record turnout in precincts that include reservations.

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Mail-in votes helped make Florida's election a nightmare. A solution? More mail-in votes

David Smiley

February 28, 2019 |

Miami Herald |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Florida

Over the past two decades, Florida has notoriously been plagued with voting complications, which have called into question the integrity of many state and national elections. In an attempt to simplify voting, Florida is now opting for three parallel systems: Election Day precincts, early voting centers, and by mail.

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It's become much harder to rig elections in Nigeria thanks to technology

Yomi Kazeem

February 20, 2019 |

Quartz Africa |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

Using two-step authentication helps to increase the security of elections. Nigeria has addressed several of the problems that marred its 2007 elections by introducing card readers and permanent voter cards (PVCs) to replace paperwork that could be more easily forged. Nigeria’s electoral commission has also worked with cyber-security experts to implement the upgrades to its election systems. What remains is to ensure compliance with new regulations.

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Native American Rights Groups Are Targeting Six States to Fight Voter Suppression in 2020

Massoud Hayoun

February 14, 2019 |

Pacific Standard |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, North Dakota

Native American voters are disproportionately impacted by restrictive voter ID laws, particularly those that require proof of address because many Native Nations do not use formal street addresses. In response, the voting rights group Four Directions helped create and implement a system that allowed tribal officials to set up at polling places and immediately generate an ID on tribal letterhead with an address based on a location that a voter pointed to on a map. The group also supported lawsuits to expand polling places, lessening the financial and travel burdens for Native American voters.

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Can a Nonreligious Church Save Politics?

Adrienne Day

December 05, 2018 |

NationSwell |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Modeled after faith-based services, Civic Saturday encourages civic participation by creating a space for people to discuss social change, organize to vote, and engage in other democracy and community-building activities. The concept has been replicated in cities across the United States.

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