Fair Elections Center’s Local Initiatives to Improve the Voting Experience guide provides best practices and policy suggestions for local voting administration and education
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATIONWIDE – Amidst an increase of anti-voting legislation ahead of the 2024 elections, the Fair Elections Center created Local Initiatives to Improve the Voting Experience, a guide laying out policies and best practices for local officials to improve administration of voter registration, poll worker recruitment and training, voter education, and other administrative practices.
It has been a turbulent few years in election legislation, after the 2020 election sowed erroneous doubt in our democracy and states continued to erect barriers to vote. Attacks on the Voting Rights Act continue. State leaders who want to protect access to the ballot are under more pressure than ever to pass laws making it easier to vote.
“Restoring faith in our democracy has never been more urgent and important,” says Robert Brandon, President and CEO of Fair Elections Center. “Our local leaders have never been more critical and the Fair Elections Center wants to equip them with a blueprint for protecting accessible, safe, and fair elections in their communities.”
The report is being sent to state, county, city and local elections officials and elected office holders across the country. The vision is for it to be used as an policy and advocacy tool to highlight possible improvements to election administration that can occur at the local level, especially when local election offices and outreach are funded appropriately.
The Local Initiative Report includes some examples where these practices have worked and what policies could help local election administration. They include:
Promoting online voter registration in public touchpoints with local governments and make computers available to the public, Snohomish County, WA
City ordinances that require landlords to provide voter registration forms to new tenants, Washington, DC
Recruit high school and college students to be poll workers, with a emphasis on bilingual young people
Partner with local and national organizations to supplement existing poll worker recruitment efforts, like the WorkElections project
Improve accessibility of election materials for voters with disabilities, by using tools such as large print, Braille documents and ASL-videos
Mobile early voting sites targeted at populations who face barriers to casting a ballot, like Los Angeles County did for hospital workers, food service employees, and voters experiencing homelessness
If you are interested in learning more about this guide and the opportunities for local leaders to put it into action, please reach out to fairelections@berlinrosen.com.
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Fair Elections Center is a national, nonpartisan voting rights and election reform organization based in Washington, D.C. using litigation, public education and advocacy to remove barriers to registration and voting, particularly those disenfranchising underrepresented and marginalized communities.