A senator dies mid-term. Seat sits vacant. The fix? Up to 3 elections in ~4 months. That's SC right now after Sen. Lindsey Graham's death. Latest Expand Democracy 3 🗞️ digs into why filling vacancies is so often slow and costly, and how RCV fixes it. 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/better-way...

Better ways to fill vacancies, AI and voting rights, and timely links

Welcome to the latest edition of The Expand Democracy 3. We typically release every two weeks and highlight promising pro-democracy ideas and local, national, and global news. And don’t miss our compl...

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@samwang.bsky.social spent 20 years studying what's broken in US elections. This year he ran for Congress in NJ-12 and found out firsthand. $5M in outside spending flooded his primary, redistricting changing the game, and much more - listen now🎙️Democracy Lab 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/how-to-rew...

"700,000 taxpaying Americans. No vote in Congress. Local laws subject to congressional veto at any time. That's DC." — @ankitjaindc.bsky.social on why DC statehood is a live democracy problem, not a distant one. New 🎙️Democracy Lab out now! 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/why-dc-sta...

🎙️Why DC Statehood Can't Wait

Featuring Ankit Jain

expanddem.substack.com

"California’s Top-Two Primary Has a Plurality Problem—And It's Easy to Fix" The good news is that the fix does not require a constitutional amendment, only a simple statute. CA can do the "Seattle plan" -- use Ranked Choice Voting in the primary election democracysos.substack.com/p/california...

California’s Top-Two Primary Has a Plurality Problem—And It's Easy to Fix

The good news is that the fix does not require a constitutional amendment, only a simple statute

democracysos.substack.com

435 House seats for 340 million people, fewer than 30 competitive districts heading into the midterms. New ED3🗞️ on expanding the House as a structural precondition for PR + age limits and a guest post by J.H. Snider on state constitutional conventions. 🔗 expanddem.substack.com

"Telling people to defend democracy when no one's had a good experience of democracy is a failing message." — Rebecca Trout, @civicleague.bsky.social New 🎙️Democracy Lab episode on creating positive democratic experiences, civic infrastructure, and more. 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/think-nati...

🎙️Think Nationally, Build Locally

Featuring Rebecca Trout

expanddem.substack.com

What if voters could give all their votes to one candidate they really believed in? That's cumulative voting, and it has a long history in America. New Expand Democracy 3 dives in, plus the case for RCV in presidential primaries and more. Read now here🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/the-expand...

The Expand Democracy 3: Cumulative voting, RCV ballots in presidential primaries, and timely links

Welcome to the latest edition of The Expand Democracy 3, written this week by Rob, with the support of Eveline.

expanddem.substack.com

Winner take all elections leave communities of color behind. Proportional representation is the fix and it's already working in cities across the country. How do you build that from the ground up? More Equitable Democracy explains how on a new Democracy Lab🎙️ 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/a-more-equ...

🎙️A More Equitable Democracy

Featuring Colin Cole and Heather Villanueva

expanddem.substack.com

A generation that practices democracy before they're old enough to be counted is the constitution of democratic infrastructure. Our latest ED3 newsletter digs into what's working heading into the 2026 midterms - mock elections, 17 yo primary voting, etc. 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/the-expand...

The Expand Democracy 3: Getting hands on civic education as democratic infrastructure, 17 years olds voting in the primaries, and timely links

We're back!

expanddem.substack.com

The US is the only democracy that elects the people who manage its elections. Can they be trusted to stay neutral? That's the question @electionreformers.bsky.social has been working to answer. New 🎙️Democracy Lab episode with executive director Kevin Johnson 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/why-we-nee...

🎙️Why We Need Boring Election Officials

Featuring Kevin Johnson

expanddem.substack.com

No American ever voted for the campaign finance system we have. Lawyers and judges imposed it. On the latest Democracy Lab🎙️, Jeff Clements of American Promise makes the case for a constitutional fix and 25 states are already on board - both red and blue. 🎧 expanddem.substack.com/p/shining-a-...

🎙️Shining a Light on Dark Money

Featuring Jeff Clements

expanddem.substack.com

You don't tell young people they have power - you give them experiences to have it. New Democracy Lab🎙️on youth civic engagement with the top leaders in the movement: Jahnavi Rao of @newvoters.bsky.social, LaJuan Allen of Vote16USA & Alex Edgar of Made By Us 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/the-future...

🎙️The Future of Civic Engagement is Already Here

Featuring Alex Edgar, LaJuan Allen, and Jahnavi Rao

expanddem.substack.com

William Gates ran elections in Maricopa County from 2016–2024. Now he's building the next generation of election administrators at ASU and running AI boot camps across the country. New 🎙️Democracy Lab ep on what "AI for good" actually looks like👇 expanddem.substack.com/p/reimaginin...

🎙️Reimagining Election Administration in the Age of AI

Featuring Bill Gates

expanddem.substack.com

🚫No congressional vote to go to war. 🛑No passports, no ballot. Two very different stories about who gets shut out of democratic accountability in 2026, what the research says, and how to address it. Read the newest Expand Democracy 3 now👇 🔗: expanddem.substack.com/p/the-iran-w...

The Iran War and democratic accountability, protecting voters abroad amid restrictions, and timely links

Welcome to the latest edition of The Expand Democracy 3, written this week by Eveline and Nivea, with the support of Rob.

expanddem.substack.com

7% of voters elected 87% of U.S. House members in 2024. The real election isn't on Election Day. It's the primary: low turnout, unrepresentative, and many have already decided New Democracy Lab pod with Beth Hladick of Unite America on how we fix it👇 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/the-primar...

🎙️The Primary Problem No One Talks About

Featuring Beth Hladick

expanddem.substack.com

Trust in courts is eroding, what do we do about it? 🎙️New DL episode: Nivea Krishnan talks with Bert Brandenburg about the levers we can pull to rebuild public confidence in the judiciary. Plus: our new newsletter on the SAVE Act. Get them both here: 📩 expanddem.substack.com/p/beyond-the...

Beyond the SAVE America Act, Judges getting off the bench (this week’s Democracy Lab), and timely links & shorts

Welcome to the latest edition of The Expand Democracy 3, written this week by Eveline and Nivea, with the support of Rob.

expanddem.substack.com

New @DemocracyLab episode is live 🎧 Filmmaker Todd Drezner & attorney Jared Pettinato on Section 2 of the 14th Amendment, a forgotten constitutional tool for protecting voting rights that's never been enforced. Worth a listen: expanddem.substack.com/p/the-right-...

🎙The Right to Vote Is Far From Guaranteed

Featuring Todd Drezner and Jared Pettinato

expanddem.substack.com

New @DemocracyLab episode is live 🎧 Filmmaker Todd Drezner & attorney Jared Pettinato on Section 2 of the 14th Amendment, a forgotten constitutional tool for protecting voting rights that's never been enforced. Worth a listen: expanddem.substack.com/p/the-right-...

🎙The Right to Vote Is Far From Guaranteed

Featuring Todd Drezner and Jared Pettinato

expanddem.substack.com

Most Americans say they want more political choices. So why is it so hard for new parties and independents to compete? New episode of TDL with ballot access legend Richard Winger and Libertarian leader Bill Redpath. 🎧 Listen tinyurl.com/demlabapple tinyurl.com/demlabspotify

The Democracy Lab

Politics Podcast · Updated Semiweekly · The Democracy Lab is a new podcast from Expand Democracy exploring the ideas, reforms, and civic energy shaping the future of American democracy. Every two week...

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A handful of states help decide who becomes President. Before most Americans even vote. Is that really the best system we can design? Our latest piece explores early primary reform, making the nomination process more representative, and more. Read ➡️ expanddem.substack.com/p/making-par...

Making parties great again, early election results, and timely links

Welcome to the latest edition of The Expand Democracy 3, written this week by Rob, with the support of Eveline and Nivea.

expanddem.substack.com

Women’s power is a design question. 🎙New Democracy Lab episode w Alana Persson @representwomen.bsky.social on the 2026 Democracy Solutions Summit on structural reform, institutional design, and implementation 🎧 Listen: open.spotify.com/episode/5iuc... 🎟 Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/democracy-...

Women's Power by Design: Inside the 2026 Democracy Solutions Summit

open.spotify.com

🚨 New Democracy Lab episode🎙️ What would the SAVE Act actually change about voter registration + election administration—and what does it mean for the future of voting rights? Listen now: 🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/0MzU... 🔗 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

The Ballot Battle

Podcast Episode · The Democracy Lab · 02/19/2026 · 43m

podcasts.apple.com

🚨 Two fresh releases from @ExpandDemocracy this week: 🗳️ Democracy 3 newsletter on universities responding to federal overreach 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/universiti... 🎙️ Democracy Lab pod on overlooked voting rights tools + the National Popular Vote compact 🔗 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Universities respond to federal overreach, the NFL pioneers civics, and timely links

Welcome to the latest edition of The Expand Democracy 3, written this week by Eveline and Nivea, with the support of Rob.

expanddem.substack.com

A key enforcement mechanism in the US Constitution has gone unused for 150 years. Todd Drezner explores Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment—and why it matters now in his new documentary. 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/a-constitu...

A Constitutional Provision We Ignored for 150 Years

Guest Post: Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment and the cost of unenforced rights

expanddem.substack.com

🛑Stop doom scrolling and read up on real reforms happening right now in the latest issue of the Expand Democracy 3: 1. Avoiding Top-2 primary lockouts 2. Protecting & expanding voting rights for all 3. Timely democracy reads 👉 expanddem.substack.com/p/the-expand...

The Expand Democracy 3: Avoiding Top 2 Primary Lockouts, Promoting Our Vote, Timely Links

Welcome to the latest edition of The Expand Democracy 3, written this week by Rob Richie with the support of Eveline Dowling and Nivea Krishnan.

expanddem.substack.com

In what feels like an endless period of legislative gridlock, citizen-led policymaking matters more than ever. Check out our conversation with Maresa Strano from @NewAmerica on The Democracy Lab: tinyurl.com/demlabapple tinyurl.com/demlabspotify #PeoplePower

The Democracy Lab

Politics Podcast · Updated Semiweekly · The Democracy Lab is a new podcast from Expand Democracy exploring the ideas, reforms, and civic energy shaping the future of American democracy. Every two week...

tinyurl.com

🎙️New episode of The Democracy Lab! Freedom is one of America’s most powerful, and most misunderstood, words. A convo with historian Jefferson Cowie on how freedom has shaped, and sometimes undermined, democracy. 🎧http://tinyurl.com/demlabapple 🎧http://tinyurl.com/demlabspotify

“There is nothing stopping states from redrawing congressional maps every election cycle and that’s exactly why the current redistricting regime is broken.” Our latest "3" unpacks the gerrymandering arms race and why only national standards can stop it. 🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/ending-the...

Ending the gerrymandering arms race, Washington bill to stop political violence, and timely links

Welcome to the latest edition of The Expand Democracy 3, written this week by Eveline, with the support of Nivea and Rob.

expanddem.substack.com

As 2025 wraps up, we’re reflecting and looking forward. Our final Expand Democracy 3 highlights the ideas giving us hope and where pro-democracy work goes next 🌱 Thank you to all who read, shared, and helped build this community. Check out here 👉 expanddem.substack.com/p/looking-ba...

Looking Back and Looking Forward

The Expand Democracy 3

expanddem.substack.com

🎙️New episode of The Democracy Lab! Listen to experts Meredith Sumpter (FairVote) and Rob Richie (Expand Democracy) break down the pro-dem movement: where it's been, where it's going, and the key role all of us play in it. 🎧http://tinyurl.com/demlabapple 🎧http://tinyurl.com/demlabspotify