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How a Group of Political Novices Ended Gerrymandering in Michigan

Tom Perkins

April 24, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Michigan

Voters Not Politicians (VPN) is a grassroots initiative that, with the help over 4,000 volunteers who knocked on 125,000 doors and canvassed at public events, collected the 400,000 signatures needed to get an anti-gerrymandering initiative on the statewide ballot. The initiative passed with 61% of the vote in 2018 and requires district boundaries be drawn by average citizens. The group’s founder also started The People, another group to help residents in other states apply VPNs model to stop gerrymandering. So far, residents in Florida, Virginia, and New Hampshire are at various stages of applying the model.

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"I voted in South Korea's elections. This is what democracy can look like in a pandemic."

Catherine Kim

April 17, 2020 |

Vox |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: South Korea

South Korea held a national election during the Covid-19 pandemic by taking extensive sanitation and health screening measures. In addition to mandatory face protection and social distancing, voters’ temperatures were taken, hands covered in sanitizer, and given new gloves for their sanitized hands. Those with a fever voted in a secluded area and those with mild Covid-19 symptoms could vote by hospitals. Those in quarantine had one hour to vote after everyone else and needed to report to officials when home. It’s impossible to erase all risks, but many voters report the steps taken increased their security.

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South Korea's Coronavirus Test Run: How to Hold an Election

Timothy W. Martin Andrew Jeong

April 15, 2020 |

Wall Street Journal |

Multi-Media |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: South Korea

Extra sanitation and health screening precautions allowed South Korea to hold a national election during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mandatory face protection, rubber gloves, taking voters’ temperatures, and providing hand sanitizer and new gloves were some of the requirements at polling stations. Candidates also continued to campaign but took precautions such as face masks, gloves, and microphone covers. While the strictest social distancing was not followed, voters express feeling comfortable and officials say South Korea could provide a model to other countries on how to hold an election during the pandemic.

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“Ladies First!”: Women fight against solid waste dumping in this Himachal Pradesh village

Vaishnavi Rathore

April 13, 2020 |

Mongabay |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Sudher, Himachal Pradesh

A group of women volunteers, known as the Mahila Mandal, from Sudher in India are fighting against the dumping of garbage in their village and the pollution and potential negative health effects that come with it. Despite daily household and farm work, the group has been pressuring authorities through demonstrations and protests to clean up the solid waste dumping site.

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No reason to stop organizing

Angela K. Evans

April 09, 2020 |

Boulder Weekly |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

For many activists, gathering in mass protest is their most powerful tool in their toolbox, but social distancing threatens this ability. But activists in Boulder County, Colorado are not letting the pandemic stop their mission. To stay compliant with social distancing, they are taking to Zoom to organize during the crisis.

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Meet the young lawmakers crossing party lines for a green future

Scott Shigeoka

April 01, 2020 |

Grist |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Iowa

As the youngest state legislators in Iowa, Zach Wahls, a Democrat, and Joe Mitchell, a Republican, are working across party lines to find solutions to climate change. While there has been pushback about their bipartisan work, the duo is bridging the political divide and engaging in dialogue to find common ground on several environmental initiatives like renewable energy.

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State Legislatures Scramble to Meet in the Age of Coronavirus

Kate Elizabeth Queram

March 30, 2020 |

Route Fifty |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

Across the United States, local and state legislators are passing resolutions to make sure they can continue to serve their communities while keeping themselves safe from COVID-19. From convening in bigger spaces, like basketball arenas to allowing for voting from separate rooms or via video or teleconference, public servants are working to make sure they can continue to pass emergency legislation for their communities.

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Coronavirus is generating a surge of interest in voting by mail in the 2020 presidential election. It's not a panacea

Anthony Man

March 29, 2020 |

Tampa Bay Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Florida

The Covid-19 pandemic has increased interest in and use of alternative voting methods in Florida. Among Democrats in the 2020 primary, where most of the primary action took place, voting by mail was up 33% from 2016 and early voting at regional sites was up 20%, while in-person voting on primary day was down about 25%. Offering voting alternatives is not a panacea, there are some drawbacks including a greater percentage of rejected ballots among certain demographic groups, however it can help ease concerns among voters about voting in person during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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

Jessica Huseman

March 24, 2020 |

ProPublica |

Text |

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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Maryland can save its election by letting people vote at home

Eric Cortellessa

March 20, 2020 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Utah

Utah is an example of how states can smoothly transition to universal vote-by-mail elections during the Covid-19 pandemic. Utah moved in stages by first allowing all registered voters to vote-by-mail for any reason, followed by inviting counties to opt in to universal voting by mail once they were ready. Administrators found it easier and cheaper, voters found it more convenient, and turnout increased 5 percentage points in counties that had switched. Details like whether to include return postage on ballots have to be worked out, but four states have transitioned to universal absentee voting with success.

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