Video
During the 2022 midterms, voters not only cast a ballot to decide the balance of power in congress, but in in many states voters decided on a range of consequential ballot initiatives impacting the nuts and bolts of the electoral process including voter-ID laws, party primary reform, ranked choice voting, and proportional representation. The outcomes of these statewide and local level ballot initiatives have direct implications for future elections and participatory democracy.
This midterm recap webinar goes beyond the candidate horse race and focus on analysis and perspectives from advocates and scholars on recent voting-related ballot initiatives, immediate implications for future elections, and what’s ahead for emerging electoral reforms at the state and local level. See panelists Deb Otis, Director of Research at FairVote; Jenny Lee, Deputy Director of the Coalition of Communities of Color; and Wendy Underhill, Director of Elections and Redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Ash Center Reimagining Democracy Fellow Nick Chedli Carter moderated.
Podcast
On this week’s episode of “Terms of Engagement,” Miles Rapoport, former Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy at the Ash Center, joins cohosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to discuss universal voting in the United States.
Podcast
High voter turnout is often celebrated as a sign of a healthy democracy, with election officials viewing strong participation as evidence of public engagement and political legitimacy. On Terms of Engagement, Professor Jason Brennan joins cohosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to examine whether higher turnout actually strengthens democracy.
Commentary
In this opinion piece, Audrey Feldman, Todd Rogers and Ben Valenta — participants in the Sports, Democracy and Civic Health project — describe their findings showing that shared fandom can soften partisan animosity and make political opponents more willing to connect.
Paper
This paper by members of the Ash Center’s Executive Session on Elections and Election Administration, Tina Barton, Judd Choate, Ruth Greenwood, Elizabeth Linos, Veniece Miller and Tammy Patrick, presents a comprehensive pipeline strategy to recruit, support, and retain election administrators—by reducing barriers to entry, strengthening professional networks, improving workplace support and using workforce data to address burnout and prevent attrition.
Additional Resource
The Shorenstein Center’s 2026 Voting Information Trends project—developed in collaboration with the National Internet Observatory at Northeastern University, the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation’s Program on Democracy and the Informed Public, and The Civic Health and Institutions Project—provides new insights into the voter information landscape in the United States ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Among the resources, an interactive dashboard maps where Americans are finding voting information and learning about key aspects of the voting process—from sourcing polling locations to voter registration. Also included are a series of trends reports gauging perceptions of voting in the lead up to the 2026 midterm elections.
Feature
On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, now an Ash Senior Fellow and election administration expert, testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight. The hearing examined allegations that approximately 6,600 noncitizens were improperly registered to vote in New Jersey between June 2023 and June 2024.