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Voting by Mail Would Reduce Coronavirus Transmission but It Has Other Risks

Jessica Huseman

March 24, 2020 |

ProPublica |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

As the COVID19 pandemic continues, officials are looking ahead to the United States’ presidential election in November and considering mail-in ballots. While it is a limited-contact way of voting, it presents massive challenges in terms of scaling. Things like infrastructure, cost, and voter privacy and fraud have to be considered, which is why states are turning to those who have had some success already, like Minnesota and Montana, to learn from.

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How to Save Elections From a Pandemic

Eric Cortellessa

March 16, 2020 |

Washington Monthly |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Salt Lake City, Utah

The coronavirus pandemic swept the nation at a time when many would be going to polling stations to cast their votes in primary elections, but vote-at-home practices are providing a solution for this civic inconvenience. Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and now Utah have all implemented statewide all-mail election campaigns that not only improve voter turnout, but also cost less to taxpayers than only relying on in-person polling booths.

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Advocates, teachers aim to help growing number of young Texas voters wield their power

Vicky Camarillo

March 11, 2020 |

Corpus Christi Caller Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Texas

Organizations and educators in Texas work to increase voter engagement among young people. Schools must provide voter registrations, but many don't, so some teachers register students and teach the importance of civic participation. Several groups also work to get high school and college-age voters to the polls. MOVE Texas and Texas Rising registered thousands of young voters on National Voter Registration Day in 2019. Utilizing technology, going to where young people are, and teaching media literacy increased civic engagement among young people in 2018, although the turnout was still relatively low at 25%.

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How organizations, lawsuits are fighting voter suppression in Texas

John C. Moritz

March 05, 2020 |

Corpus Christi Caller Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Texas

Civil rights groups used a lawsuit and a vigilant network of activists to defeat an attempt to purge qualified voters from the list of Texas' eligible voters and to guard against ongoing attempts to disenfranchise naturalized citizens and other people of color. In 2019, the Texas Secretary of State's office compiled a list of what it said were as many as 100,000 illegally registered voters. Countering claims of fraud and threats of prosecution, activists forced the state to abandon the effort and oust the secretary of state. A study shows at least 17 million names have been cut from voter lists nationwide.

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Ranked Choice Voting Gains Traction For 2020

Lynsi Burton

January 10, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Arab Emirates, Maine

Already adopted in eighteen cities and five states, ranked choice voting, a system where voters rank candidates running in an election from their first to last choice, is growing in popularity across the United States. Those states and municipalities that have ranked choice voting claim that this system is fairer and more democratic and the electorate is more satisfied as a result.

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Wisconsin once had a 'model' voting rights program for people with disabilities. Officials have let it decline.

Rory Linnane

December 23, 2019 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Wisconsin's program to make voting and polling locations accessible for people with disabilities once garnered national attention, though it has since fallen behind where it used to be. The program called for an audit of voting locations every two years, and follow up action plans for inaccessible locations.

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Translators help Korean American voters in Harris County find their electoral voice

Alexa Ura

November 26, 2019 |

The Texas Tribune |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

Even in multicultural and diverse Harris County, Texas, with a population greater than 26 states and over 145 languages spoken, some groups, like Korean Americans, are marginalized when it comes to voting and civic participation due to language and other cultural barriers. Houston resident is fighting this marginalization by organizing Korean American Early Voting Day, which provides Korean-speaking Texans with translated voter guides and other translation services.

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Let's nix Columbus Day and make Election Day a paid holiday instead

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

October 14, 2019 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Sandusky, Ohio

Sandusky, Ohio, recently got rid of Columbus Day in favor of a holiday on Election Day, following the lead of several countries around the world such as South Africa, Germany, and India. Sandusky's swapping of Columbus Day for Election Day is largely symbolic, but symbols can be powerful, especially for small towns.

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Jewish and Arab women unite to defy Bedouin voter suppression in Israeli election

Eetta Prince-Gibson

September 18, 2019 |

Public Radio International (PRI) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Israel

Jewish and Arab organizers arranged for volunteers to bring Bedouin women in remote villages to their polling place to vote in parliamentary elections. Bedouin villages on tribal lands don’t have polling places, so dozens of women volunteers used their own cars (due to a last-minute ruling making it hard for organized groups to bus voters) to bring hundreds of Bedouin women to distant polling stations. Many of the women would not have voted without the help of the volunteers, who contributed at least in part to the 10-percentage point voter turnout increase in Arab communities.

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Young voting advocates take up the fight against suppression

Milan Polk

August 29, 2019 |

The GroundTruth Project |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Greenville, South Carolina

Young advocates for voting rights are fighting back against laws that make it difficult for young people and other marginalized groups to register to vote. Through public campaigns, lawsuits, and voter registration drives, these youth advocates are taking action as their peers come of age to vote.

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