Priorities

 

Voting District

National

Restore voting rights. The afterglow of the election would spur a new push to update the Voting Rights Act. The bill the House passed last year has since been renamed after the late civil right icon and Georgia congressman John Lewis. The legislation would revive the racial discrimination protections enshrined in the original 1965 landmark law — by once again requiring states with histories of voter suppression to get federal permission to change any election rules. The old rules for this "preclearance" were struck down seven years ago by the Supreme Court.

UCLA Voting Rights Project, UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative, and the Luskin School of Public Affairs.

 Curb special interests. Democrats would immediately revive the "For the People Act," the other name for HR 1, the sweeping package of voting, ethics and campaign finance reforms the House passed entirely along party lines in March 2019. The bill would modernize voter registration, take aim at voter suppression and gerrymandering, strengthen ethics laws, expand lobbyist disclosure and inject new transparency, tougher limits and public money into campaign financing, among other measures.

Organizer: Center for Election Science

In recent years, reformers have sought to heal the partisanship that divides our nation while making our elections fairer and more representative. Two important reforms that have gained steam are redistricting reform and open primaries with a top-two runoff. Proponents argue that each of these reforms would take power out of the hands of the legislators, established political parties, and special interests and return it to the people.

Dr. Christian Grose, associate Professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southern California will talk about his research on these reforms for the Schwarzenegger Institute. We'll explore his analyses of gerrymandering, false majorities and the impact that both redistricting reform and open primary systems have on our elections.

Organizer: National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers

The virtual conference, NANR's final virtual event of of 2020, will share successes and missed opportunities from the 2020 election cycle, provide skills training for organizations and leaders, as well as opportunities to network and collaborate with attendees.

Friday, December 11 will feature important talks from Citizen Data's Mindy Finn, National Vote at Home Institute's Amber McReynolds, IVC Media's Chad Peace, and more.

Organizer: Open Primaries

Open Primaries, in association with the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers, will host a special Zoom call to feature the state leaders and campaigns that heralded a breakthrough year for the open primaries movement.

2020 saw big wins in St. Louis and Alaska and millions of voters voting for top-two open primaries in Florida, where open primaries received a higher margin of votes — 57 percent — than either of the presidential candidates. The call will feature the leaders of the 2020 campaigns Scott Kendall (Alaskans for Better Elections), Benjamin Singer (STL Approves) and Steve Hough (Florida Open Primaries).

Organizer: Bipartisan Policy Center

Following an unprecedented year of uncertainty, adaptation and innovation in voting 2020, the Bipartisan Policy Center will host its fourth post-presidential election cycle event bringing together election administrators, policymakers, academics, advocates and campaigns to examine the voting experience.

We will discuss the impact of election administration reforms on improving the voting experience over four years ago as well as securing the voting process. Topics to be covered include: the shifts needed for voting during a pandemic; the rise of voting by mail, the use of technology in the election ecosystem, and how it can be secured; the future of funding elections in America; how changes in election laws and litigation impacted the election; how improved data collection and analysis can further improve the administration of elections.

Organizer: Campaign Legal Center

Meet with democracy advocates from Virginia, Missouri and Alaska to discuss some of the most talked-about ballot initiatives in 2020. We'll focus on voting rights, money in politics, independent redistricting commissions and citizen-led efforts to reform our democracy.

State

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