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

Seattle residents receive cash vouchers to contribute to local campaigns of their choosing. The taxpayer-funded program aims to broaden political participation and counter the influence of big donors. The idea is spreading to other cities, including Albuquerque and Austin.

Ameelio is a technology startup launched by Yale students to facilitate free communication between people who are incarcerated and loved ones. In their first six months, the group went from sending 300 to over 4,000 letters a week to facilities in the United States. Their initial goal was to provide a not-for-profit alternative to the oftentimes predatory prison telecommunications industry. Recently they began a voter registration initiative where they send registration instructions, a blank voter registration application, and ballot request form to people who are incarcerated and eligible to vote.

The coronavirus made cramped or high-risk polling locations untenable so at least 39 sports arenas have opened up their facilities for voting. Their expansive size allows them to welcome large numbers of voters while maintaining social distancing protocols. Many are outdoors, which lowers the risk of transmitting the virus even further. Prompted by calls from athletes, arena owners’ site the summer’s racial-justice demonstrations as inspiration for supplying the spaces since voting is a key way to create definitive changes. Voters were thrilled to cast their ballots in a sports arena.

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.

Under the structure of unique treaties called final agreements, Yukon First Nations are able to exercise the powers of self-governance over projects proposed on their land. Implementation of the agreements isn’t always smooth, but 11 of the 14 First Nations have entered into these creative accords with the territorial and federal governments, which aims to foster participation and grant decision-making authority in these Indigenous communities.

Voting in Australia became mandatory at the national level in 1924, and voter turnout has not fallen below 90% since. Voters can also cast their ballot at any polling place in their home state, with many polling places offering snacks and fundraise for local schools or churches. The atmosphere on election day, which is held on a Saturday, is festive and party-like. Mandatory voting has ensured that all groups have their voices heard.

Non-citizen residents of Takoma Park, Maryland have been able to vote in municipal elections since 1993, and 16- and 17-year-olds there have had access to the ballot since 2013. Residents of the city, where roughly 30% of the population was born outside of the United States, say participating in city elections makes them feel more welcome in the community and helps them get invested in local issues.

To assuage concerns around election security, Ada County, Ohio created an online tool called Ballot Verifier that allows users to search every ballot cast in the county since 2022. County officials invited local election skeptics to be the first to test the new tool and received positive feedback on its level of transparency.

To improve voter access for people in jail, the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office hired an election worker to comb through county records and identify incarcerated people who are registered to vote. The staffer then went from pod to pod in the jail to deliver absentee ballot request forms and give others an opportunity to register. In all, 70 people were able to request their absentee ballots.

In its first presidential election with state-mandated early voting, which allowed voters to cast their ballots in-person for nine days before election day, Midland County, Mich. saw roughly 20% of its voters utilize early voting and had high turnout at 70.05%. Officials reported that they were able to streamline the early voting process with Ballot on Demand equipment that allowed voters to print their ballots on-site rather than requiring the county to print ballots in advance.