Shawn Griffiths
Most Americans agree that the current political process does not serve their interests. They believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. They believe policymakers are more concerned with what their party wants than what their constituents want.
And they’re not wrong. But, voters in several states have an opportunity in 2020 to help move the needle on reform that would give voters greater power over and confidence in the political process.
The national anti-corruption group, RepresentUs, launched a new map Tuesday that shows exactly where these nonpartisan, pro-voter, pro-democracy reform campaigns are on the ballot in 2020 -- a challenging year to advance any ballot measure.
“Getting enough signatures for a ballot measure is hard in good times, much less a pandemic. These grassroots campaigns show Americans are hungry to fix our broken election system, draw fair maps and check the influence of money in politics,” said RepresentUs Co-Founder and CEO Josh Silver.
The map includes descriptions and links to anti-gerrymandering, primary reform, ranked choice voting, and campaign finance reform campaigns from coast to coast. In states like Florida, only primary reform is on the ballot, but in states like Alaska, North Dakota, and Arkansas, voters have an opportunity to completely transform the electoral process.
(Update 8/26/20: The North Dakota Supreme Court has removed the proposed reform amendment from the state's ballot.)
RepresentUs says it is working with each of these campaigns to ensure success and another historic year in primary reform.
“These reforms have support across the political spectrum. We need to work together to win each state and local campaign, which builds momentum for national reform,” said Silver.
RepresentUs also recently launched online resources for voters who wish to vote by mail in the 2020 election and for those who want to know about the ballot counting process in their own state.
The group is hosting a virtual, star-studded gala on Sunday, August 30, featuring Jennifer Lawrence, Dave Matthews, Zooey Deschanel, Secretary Tom Ridge, Sia, Jake Johnson, Sarah Silverman, Kenan Thompson, Drunk History, Nick Kroll, Ben Harper, Jonathan Scott and more. The event is raising money for VoteSafe, a campaign to ensure every voter’s right to vote is protected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Get more information about the event here.