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More People With Felony Convictions Can Vote, but Roadblocks Remain

Lindsey Van Ness

August 31, 2020 |

Stateline |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

A longstanding campaign to restore voting rights to people with felony convictions led nine states since the 2016 presidential election to create or expand such rights, benefiting hundreds of thousands of potential voters. As of 2016, an estimated 6.1 million people were unable to vote because of a felony conviction. As that number has dropped, advocates have faced another obstacle: getting newly enfranchised people to register and vote. Nationwide, a number of advocacy and public-interest groups are racing to register the formerly incarcerated as the 2020 election approaches.

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Vote-By-Mail Helped Perk Up Hawaii Turnout But So Did Some Competitive Races

Blaze Lovell

August 13, 2020 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Hawaii

The August 2020 primary election in Hawaii was the first run entirely with voting by mail and the result was increased voter turnout in all of the state’s voting districts. In fact, the 47.8% voter turnout was the best the state has had in 20 years. The turnout increased by an average of 15% over the 2016 primary election. Some districts that historically have low voter turnout saw smaller gains and still had turnout that lagged far behind other districts.

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'An awakening': the George Floyd protests spur surge in Black voter registration

Megan Botel Isaiah Murtaugh

August 07, 2020 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Advocacy organizations conducted voter outreach and registered new voters at Black Lives Matters protests on a scale not seen since the civil rights era. HeadCount, a voter-registration organization, created QR codes that anyone with a printer could put on protest signs. Other attendees could scan the codes with their smartphones to immediately register to vote. The group registered 14,898 new voters in June 2020, compared with 1,204 in June 2016. Political organizing at the summer’s protest events contributed to higher turnout in local and national elections, particularly among Black and Latino voters.

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The world has shown it's possible to avert Covid-caused election meltdowns. But the U.S. is unique.

Ryan Heath

August 06, 2020 |

Politico |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Several countries successfully held elections during the Covid-19 pandemic and can offer insights for how the U.S. can hold a safe presidential election. These include providing more funding for additional polling places and poll workers, expanding ways for people to vote so that it is easier, requiring protective equipment and social distancing at the polls, allowing officials to process mail-in ballots before election day, and informing the public about any changes to contradict misinformation campaigns. It could be harder in the U.S. due to its size and the complexity of electoral laws across the states.

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19th Amendment: The six-week 'brawl' that won women the vote

Elaine Weiss

August 03, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tennessee

Three generations of activists marched, protested, lobbied, and campaigned for more than seven decades to win the right to vote for American women. In 1920, national and local activists worked to convince Tennessee legislators to support the 19th amendment and become the 36th and final state needed to ratify it. Local suffragists were the most visible forces, lobbying their representatives to support the amendment, while national activists built alliances, identified legislators known to take bribes, and exerted political pressure at all levels of government, including among presidential candidates.

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How Hawaii's New Voting System Could Help Disabled Voters

Blaze Lovell

August 03, 2020 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Hawaii

Voters with disabilities in Hawaii have more options for voting than in most other states. Electronic ballots in particular, which can be paired with assistive technology, allow voters more freedom and independence. Any voter with a disability can request a ballot be emailed to them as an HTML file. Voters must sign a privacy waiver and ballots have to be printed and signed. Hawaii is one of the few states that allows voters to scan their signed ballots and return them by email, as well as by mail or dropped in an official ballot box. More voter outreach is needed to make people aware of this option.

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Black voter mobilization efforts begin to bear fruit

Megan Botel Isaiah Murtaugh

July 29, 2020 |

Los Angeles Times |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

HeadCount, a voter mobilization group, held registration drives at concerts and other events and collaborated with celebrities, music industry leaders, and athletes to form March on Ballot Boxes (M.O.B.B.), an informal coalition harnessing the activism of the Black Lives Matters movement. They provided voter registration tools such as text messaging and QR codes, which protesters could print and display on their signs. They also partnered with Atlantic Records to launch ATL Votes, a digital registration campaign aimed at young voters. They registered over ten times as many new voters in 2020 than in 2016.

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Technology Works Behind the Scenes to Keep US Mail-in Voting Secure

Michelle Quinn

July 27, 2020 |

Voice of America (VOA) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

With many more people are voting by mail in the 2020 presidential election, technology is helping to make sure ballots are counted and that voters are informed. Although the system is not perfect, it does allow for voters to follow the progress of their ballot to see if there may have been a problem at some point during the process.

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Need a physical exam? How about registering to vote while you're at it? Milwaukee clinics join program to boost voting

Patricia McKnight

July 27, 2020 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Wisconsin

The VotER initiative registers voters while they wait at 75 hospitals and community health centers across the country. The founders feel that voting will help their patients because there are social and political issues that impact health. VotER has hospital posters and doctor badges with QR codes that take patients to a voter registration portal. There are also iPad kiosks in waiting rooms for patients to register, and some clinics send out text messages with voter information and election reminders. The team has registered 800 new voters and helped about 280 people request absentee ballots.

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Why We Should Lower the Voting Age to 16

James A. Anderson

July 20, 2020 |

Next City |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Research shows that voting at a young age leads to lifelong civic engagement and several cities and countries have lowered their voting ages. In the handful of democracies that allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, they also show that they turnout in large numbers. Austria was the first EU country to allow 16-year-olds to vote and in 2014 their turnout was 64%, compared to 56% for voters 18-20. Takoma Park, Maryland allows 16-year-olds to vote, and in 2015 45% of them turned out compared to 21% overall. The national movement is slow, and not gaining a lot of traction, but changes can happen at the local level.

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