This is an op-ed by Rob Ritchie, a co-founder of FairVote, and it doesn't focus on RCV! This article, as of this writing, is not behind a paywall and is higly recommended in its entirety!:
Across the country, states are playing their traditional “laboratories of democracy” role — often inspired by action in cities that law professor Joshua Douglas terms our democracy’s “test tubes.” If we can replicate the innovations of states and cities for chipping away at voter cynicism, there just might be a way back from the brink.
States and cities are responding to new and challenging democratic problems that didn’t exist before the digital age and weakening of civic associations and local media. And they certainly can’t revamp American democracy without significant scaling. But if we can harness the lessons learned, they can help move us in the right direction.
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There’s no more direct way to help than signing up as a poll worker, with the League of Women Voters’ Vote411 an invaluable resource.
A Brookings Institution report found that more than 1 in 7 poll workers in 2022 were new — but that half of local election offices find it difficult to fill openings. A promising and replicable local model to introduce teenagers to the nuts and bolts of elections comes from Maryland’s Montgomery County. High school students can earn public service credits as poll worker aides in a safe environment on Election Day — introducing them to voting and demystifying what election workers do.
Read more here.
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