Nonprofit launched @Rob_Richie & @EvelineDowling8 in 2025 that measures success by catalyzing conversation & action advancing pro-democracy ideas & strategies.
Takoma Park, Maryland
Joined October 2024
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How long did it take you to research your last ballot? For Alex Iovine, 3+ hours. So she built VoteMate, an AI powered guide to your personalized ballot.
She joined Rob Richie on 🎙️The Democracy Lab to talk accuracy, trust & AI in elections. Listen now👇
expanddem.substack.com/p/mak…
Lexington, KY ran one of the country's best funded civic assemblies. Its 3 charter amendments are on the ballot Nov 3.
On a new 🎙️Democracy Lab, @Rob_Richie and Kit Anderson of @civic_lex dig into what it took and why voters may still say no👇
expanddem.substack.com/p/lex…
Is "fascism" the right word for Trumpism? Guest author Jeffrey Scheuer draws on Umberto Eco's "Ur-Fascism" to argue yes, and that avoiding it amounts to "unilateral rhetorical disarmament." Read it and tell us where you land 👉 expanddem.substack.com/p/the…
What does it mean for our democracy when those who serve have to fight to be heard? Military voters turn out ~27pts lower than the general public not from apathy but from a system built for people who don't move. New 🎙️Democracy Lab w/ @Secure_Families
🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/sec…
82% of U.S. wants paid family leave and 90% want background checks on gun sales, neither is federal law.
Our latest New Ideas Corner piece argues that's not gridlock but design. The Constitution sorts representation by geography and most issues don't.
🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/bey…
🎙️New Democracy Lab: @Rob_Richie sits down with @ToddACox (@NAACP_LDF) on Louisiana v. Callais, the VRA, and the path forward via state VRAs, proportional representation, DC statehood & federal reform.
Listen now 🎧: expanddem.substack.com/p/the…
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/bet…
"700,000 taxpaying Americans. No vote in Congress. Local laws subject to congressional veto at any time. That's DC." — @ankitjaindc on why DC statehood is a live democracy problem, not a distant one. New🎙️Democracy Lab out now!
🔗expanddem.substack.com/p/why…
Expand Democracy retweeted
"California’s TopTwo Primary Has a Plurality Problem—And It's Easy to Fix"
@EvelineDowling8 writes the good news is the fix doesn't require constitutional amend only a simple statute. CA can do the "Seattle plan" = RankedChoiceVoting in primary election
democracysos.substack.com/p/…
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 JH 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, National Civic League
New 🎙️Democracy Lab ep on creating positive experiences with democracy, civic infrastructure, and more.
🔗expanddem.substack.com/p/thi…
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…
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? @equitabledemo explains how on a new Democracy Lab🎙️
🔗expanddem.substack.com/p/a-m…
A generation that practices democracy before they're old enough to be counted is the core of democratic infrastructure.
Our latest ED3 digs into what's working heading into the 2026 midterms - mock elections, @ACEalliancece, 17yo primary voting, etc
🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/the…
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 @ERN_Reformers has been working to answer. New 🎙️Democracy Lab episode with @KevinJreformers.
Listen here now 🎧: expanddem.substack.com/p/why…
No American ever voted for the campaign finance system we have. Lawyers and judges imposed it.
On the latest Democracy Lab🎙️, @ClementsJeff of @usapromise makes the case for a constitutional fix and 25 states are already on board - both red and blue.
🎧 expanddem.substack.com/p/shi…
You don't tell young people they have power - you give them experiences where they have it.
New DL🎙️on youth civic engagement with top leaders in the movement: Jahnavi Rao of @newvotersorg, LaJuan Allen of @Vote16USA & Alex Edgar of @historymadebyus
🔗expanddem.substack.com/p/the…
🚫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, and what the research says about how to address it. Read the newest Expand Democracy 3 now👇
🔗:expanddem.substack.com/p/the…
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 @bethhladick of @uniteamerica on how we fix it👇
🔗 expanddem.substack.com/p/the…
Trust in courts is eroding, so what do we do about it?
New DL pod: @NiveaKrishnan talks with BertBrandenburg Brandenburg about the levers we can pull to rebuild public confidence in the judiciary.
Plus: our new "3" out today on the SAVE act 📩
🔗expanddem.substack.com/p/bey…