Twitch-inspired live streams could be the future of political fundraising

Steven Melendez

October 28, 2020 |

FastCompany |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Hovercast is a technology startup helping democratic organizations add interactivity to virtual events. The model, which has been used by prominent political candidates such as Bernie Sanders, uses interactive live-streaming features like on-screen highlighted comments, real-time donation meters, trivia questions, polls, videos, and animated GIFs to collect donations, sign up campaign volunteers, and encourage other types of voter engagement. The model is inspired by video gaming platforms that are geared towards younger audiences, which is one of the demographic groups engaging in the virtual events.

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S.D. election officials take new approaches to voting amid pandemic

Bart Pfankuch Nick Lowrey

October 28, 2020 |

South Dakota News Watch |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, South Dakota

Some officials took steps to make registration and voting easier and safe during the coronavirus pandemic. After issues during the primary, many counties enlisted additional staff and expanded infrastructure to process mail-in ballots. Recruitment initiatives in high schools helped replace higher-risk senior poll workers. County auditors helped assisted-living residents vote by validating their identities through a glass barrier and working with staff to safely deliver ballots. Several satellite polling locations were set up, including adjacent to tribal nations, to increase access to voting.

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We can't vote in San Quentin prison. So we held a mock election

Juan Moreno Haines Kevin Deroi Sawyer

October 28, 2020 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

Two men incarcerated at San Quentin prison tell how the men incarcerated there held a mock presidential election, despite a pandemic-related lockdown and prison officials' failure to distribute ballots that had been sent to the prison. Using handwritten ballots, the "voters," denied their actual voting rights by the state, managed to cast 176 mock votes (heavily favoring Joe Biden) by distributing the ballots during limited time outside their cells. Voting gave the men the opportunity to express their views, not just by checking a box but by adding comments on their ballots.

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At Voters' Service

Shinhee Kang Ian Karbal Feven Merid

October 27, 2020 |

Columbia Journalism Review |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Ohio

Ohio media outlets have provided practical voter information to combat confusion. WOSU, the local NPR affiliate, created an online guide for mail-in voting, with deadlines prominently bolded and videos explaining how to request and fill out absentee ballots. They also ran six call-in shows to give listeners practical information about voting and an opportunity to hear from election administrators and voting-rights experts. The Columbus Dispatch and the Akron Beacon Journal, among others, have run voting “how-to” articles and created informational guides with candidate profiles and ballot explainers.

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Ismaili, Ahmadi Muslims push national voter registration efforts

Aysha Khan

October 26, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Muslim civic advocacy groups Emgage and Ismailis Rise Up have partnered to engage a more diverse Muslim population in the 2020 election. They added thousands of contacts among new Muslim voters in six states, trained volunteers in electoral organizing and countering voter suppression, use personal connections to encourage people to vote, and will staff the Election Protection Hotline, where voters can get help in their native language. They also published videos about voter registration and mail-in voting in languages commonly spoken by Ismaili families and held virtual events aimed at mobilizing seniors.

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Ballots Behind Bars

La Risa Lynch

October 24, 2020 |

The Crisis Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Votes works to ensure access to voting for people awaiting trial in jail. In addition to registering thousands of voters, they helped pass a Cook County law designating the nation’s largest single-site detention facility as a polling place. This access enabled 1,850 people to cast their votes and about 600 people were able to take advantage of same-day registration and voting, which isn’t possible with traditional absentee ballot voting. Addressing jail-based disenfranchisement, which disproportionately impacts communities of color, gives people a voice in policies that directly impact them.

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Youth Vote Goes Virtual

Charlotte West Ilyne Castellanos

October 23, 2020 |

Voices of Monterey Bay |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

California Students Vote Project, a public-private partnership, encourages college students to vote. Covid-19-adjusted strategies include sending out multiple emails, using social media, and encouraging peer-to-peer contacts to inform students about how to register to vote and the ways they can actually cast their ballots. Group representatives also visit Zoom classrooms to share information and some students have organized virtual events, such as political trivia night, to foster student engagement. Over 65,000 California students have registered to vote since August, triple the number from all of 2016.

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Midwestern Youth of Color Are Using Art and Culture to Build Their Political Power

Cinnamon Janzer

October 22, 2020 |

Next City |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

The Midwest Culture Lab consists of three organizations working to increase voter turnout among young people, especially young people of color. The partners work with artists, musicians, and other creative people to create messaging and campaigns that are culturally relevant and engage young people in civic participation. One partner, the Ohio Student Association, had artists create an ad that used relatable messaging about a criminal justice reform ballot measure to appeal to young people to vote. The ad brought in over 150 volunteers and contributed to doubling Ohio’s youth voter turnout from 2014 to 2018.

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Latinos the targets of election disinformation – but activists are fighting back

Amy Yee

October 22, 2020 |

The Guardian |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

Civic and advocacy groups fight disinformation targeted at Latinx voters and conduct voter registration and education outreach. Voto Latino encourages young people to help older relatives spot disinformation and trained its staff to spot and report it to the watchdog group, Disinfo Defense League. Social media posts then flag the information as false. Personal relationships are an effective way to counter disinformation and also help encourage people to vote. Voto Latino alone has registered over 500,000 voters since mid-2019, more than the total amount since the organization began in 2004.

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These groups try to hack the vote – so that real criminals can't

Christa Case Bryant

October 21, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Cyber security simulations are taking place across the country to help everyone, from government officials to journalists, to identify election-related cyber threats and coordinated disinformation campaigns and make plans to strengthen defenses against them. One company, Cybereason, holds simulation events, sometimes bringing together law enforcement officers from agencies including the Secret Service and FBI, to think through potential security threats and come up with corresponding solutions. Running through security breach simulations helps plan for a quick response to deal with the challenges.

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