New York City Campaign Finance Board’s Post

Check out my op-ed in the Daily News about why NYC elections need to be aligned with state and federal elections, a recommendation of the New York City Campaign Finance Board. NYC has stellar voter registration at 82%, but dismal voter participation--7.2% in last year's primary, and 12.8%. Combining NYC elections with state and federal candidates would dramatically increase voter participation in city elections, and would save taxpayers the $60 million it costs to administer NYC-only elections in every odd-numbered-year. A democracy is only as good as the people who make it. New York has the roadmap to building a stronger, more inclusive democracy. Let's get moving! https://lnkd.in/eg8sji74

State and congressional elections have become increasingly less competitive: an estimated 70% of elections in 2020 were essentially determined in the primary. What does that mean for independent voters in states that have closed primaries? Check out our report for details on how primaries work in every state along with the role of independent voters in the United States. #Election2024 #elections https://lnkd.in/e7KavjEe

Counting is underway in California as the state's primary elections continue. With results expected to come in later tonight, what factors may shape voters' decisions? Mark Baldassare offers insight in his latest commentary. READ NOW: https://bit.ly/49S6tUU

Earlier this year, Election Center CEO Tammy Patrick, C.E.R.A. offered two resolutions for voters for a free and fair 2024 election in an interview with the Center for Public Integrity: 1) that voters think critically when hearing any information; and 2) that they take early action to ensure their ability to vote where they want to vote and for the candidates they want to vote for. That includes double-checking their voter registration details early, verifying their polling location early or voting by mail early (if that’s how they prefer to vote): https://lnkd.in/eRj6PKBx What are some of your 2024 voting resolutions? #democracy #elections2024 #civictech #vote  

"..."Is this going to force us to change the way we vote for mayor and force us into partisan [primary] elections?” “I don’t believe that this would restrict that,” [Missouri State Senator Ben Brown, R-Washington] responded. “There’s no ranking of candidates [in a runoff] and there’s one person, one vote.” https://lnkd.in/g6zV5gd8 Whoa. So this "Senator Ben Brown" fellow is fine with runoff elections. But he wants Missouri to ban "ranked-choice" (ie, preferential) voting because he thinks it's somehow different. Look, if you support plain-vanilla first-past-the-post, fine. That's one thing. Do it the way the British Tories elect their party leader. Any MP with five seconders can nominate, all members vote at once, and the candidate with most votes gets to be leader for the next 5 years, even if they only have 30%. The British Conservatives are so committed to the principle of "plurality rules", they don't faff around with either preferences or multiple rounds of balloting. Just one single X, for one single candidate, on one single ballot. Got to admire that degree of intellectual consistency. But thinking that preferential voting violates (your interpretation of) "one person, one vote" in a way that runoff elections don't... That's mathematically illiterate. It's up there with passing a bill to declare that pi = 3.00. Missourians, don't put "Senator Ben Brown" on your budget committee; numbers are clearly not his forte.

The Dallas Morning News published an op-ed in the Opinion section Thursday by partner William Brewer III and Marie Brewer calling for the elimination of off-cycle May local elections in Texas and moving elections on-cycle to November to improve voter participation. The article reflects the Brewer Storefront’s continued dedication to enforcing and promoting the Voting Rights Act in Texas communities. The Storefront is the firm’s community-service legal affiliate.   In part, they write that, “All voting systems should aim to increase voter participation, and off-cycle elections especially warrant particular attention due to their disproportionate impact on minority voters. When off-cycle elections are moved on-cycle, minority groups increase their share of the electorate by up to 10 percentage points. Moreover, when local elections coincide with presidential elections, a larger share of voters come from families earning under $30,000 annually, while the share of voters earning more than $100,000 decreases.” #votingrights #elections #BrewerStorefront #VotingRightsAct   https://lnkd.in/gAEGAmyY

For those who pay at least a glancing attention to politics, you may know the rhythm of the four-year election cycle built around the major offices on the ballot.  Start with 2020 – presidential election along with Congress and the State Legislature.  2021 – mayoral election along with dozens of local offices.  2022 – Gubernatorial election along with CongAlbanyress and the State Legislature.  2023 – Erie County Executive along with dozens of local offices. Last year Albany decided to change that.  Legislation was approved to significantly change the election cycles in New York State concerning most county and town offices.  The general intention is to run nearly all county and town elections in the same years that gubernatorial and presidential elections are held.  The sponsors of the law’s stated purpose was to increase voter participation in county and local elections since races for governor and president attract far greater participation.  Opponents of the law suggest that it will bury local election contests at the bottom of the ballot where voting interest is sometimes reduced.

Exactly one year before the 2024 Elections, our phenomenal IMD fellows brought the Wellesley community together for an impactful event on the issues that will be front and center during this election cycle. Through a series of short talks, they illuminated how a quantitative perspective can help voters affect meaningful change. In her 20-minute talk, Leah Valentiner presented about “Primaries, Presidents, and Problems with Plurality,” highlighting the vote splitting and spoiler effects that often occur when a plurality voting system is used. Through real-life examples and engaging scenarios, she shared how instant runoff (a type of ranked choice voting) is a beneficial alternative to the standard voting system for primary elections. IMD Fellow Gabrielle Mackiewicz focused her talk on “PR for PR: How Proportional Representation Can Save Our Democracy.” After showing how the use of single-member districts in Congressional elections doesn’t always accurately reflect voters’ opinions, Gabrielle demonstrated the potential of multi-member districts to tackle this problem. As she shared in her presentation, using proportional representation limits partisanship and gerrymandering, boosts voter participation, and enables a more diverse range of candidates to win. In her presentation on “Districts Gone Wild,” Janaki Kapadia walked the audience through the history of gerrymandering, different techniques employed to manipulate electoral districts, and how geometry is used to help steal elections. She also illuminated how math can be used to measure gerrymandering, sharing current legal battles over districting and some key states to watch in 2024. Last but not least, IMD Fellow Cammy Zhou shared about the “Worst College Ever?” Her presentation explored the history of the Electoral College and explained how statewide winner-take-all systems can cause disagreements between popular and electoral votes, as well as violations of equal representation. Cammy also shared the logistics behind three alternatives to the electoral college: abolishing it, avoiding it, and amending it. We are very proud of all of our fellows for their hard work in conducting research and preparing these presentations! Thank you so much to everyone who attended this event. We look forward to continuing this conversation throughout this upcoming election cycle. See this link to access the event recordings and slides: https://lnkd.in/gmfkWH5A

Check out our latest article on the expected impact of black voters on the 2024 US Presidential Elections. #BlackVotersMatter #CivilRights #PoliticalPower #Elections2024 #DemocracyInAction