Here’s how we’re marking the holiday



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Hi Friend,



You’re not imagining things — there is indeed a different name on the Three
Things Thursday email this week. Ross Sherman here, I’m the new Unite America
Press Director. I’ve been in the democracy reform space for the last two years
with RepresentUs, and I’m excited to join this team and continue working in
this movement to achieve reforms that put voters first and make our government
work better.



Going forward, I’ll be the author of Three Things
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great Alana Persson and the rest of the team). Please don’t hesitate to reach
out and say hello. But enough about me, let’s get into your regularly-scheduled
programming.



Memorial Day is this upcoming Monday. It’s a time to pause and reflect on the
enormous sacrifice that our brave fellow patriots in uniform have made in
service of our country and our democracy. We owe them not only our gratitude,
but also our collective commitment to uphold freedom and democracy here at
home. This Memorial Day, I hope you’ll join us in redoubling that commitment to
set aside our differences and put country over party, just as millions of
Americans have done while marching into battle.


In order to protect our democracy in 2023, we’re focused on fixing the
gridlock and polarization that unfortunately has come to define our politics.
That means tackling thePrimary Problem
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partisan primaries and allowing all voters to participate in the primary
process. This is especially important to the veteran community, because nearly
half of them identify as unaffiliated voters, and, as a result, are too often
locked out of our political system. With over 80 percent of general elections
for the U.S. House being noncompetitive, too many of their voices aren’t heard.
Learn more about how veterans are playing a key role in this movement from our
partners atVeterans for Political Innovation
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Bronner, Navy veterans and co-founders of VPI,published an op-ed
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in the Anchorage Daily News detailing how “Alaska veterans can transform
national politics.





How much progress has America made on election reform in recent years? Our
updated State of Reform report has the answers.
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We’ve just updated our State of Reform report for 2023
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the progress of four political reforms: nonpartisan primaries (our North Star
reform here at Unite America), ranked choice voting, vote at home, and
independent commissions. It also grades each state on its progress toward
implementing these key policies. All four political reforms have gained
momentum in recent years, especially since the 2018 midterm elections. Since
2010, voters across the country have approved nearly 80 percent of ballot
measures that advance one of the four reforms. Clearly, this is a movement that
is gaining momentum.



As more states begin holding elections under these new and improved systems,
we’re starting to get compelling data that they deliver on their promise of
putting voters first. See the map below for a clear picture of where election
reforms have been implemented. ⬇️
 
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You can check out other key findings from the 2023 State of Reform report in
ourTweet thread
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A promising campaign for open primaries in South Dakota
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Speaking of better election systems, South Dakota voters could have the
opportunity to pass open primaries in 2024. Right now, nearly 150,000 South
Dakota voters are barred from participating in primaries because they’re not
affiliated with either major party. To fix that,South Dakota Open Primaries
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a petition drive last week to qualify a top-two open primary initiative for
the 2024 ballot. Under this system, every South Dakota voter would be allowed
to participate in the primary, and the top two vote-getters would advance to
the general election.



What South Dakota is trying to do with top-two primaries isn’t some new
untested idea. California and Washington already use a top-two system, and
Louisiana has ditched party primaries altogether (see ourTweet thread
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interested in a deeper dive on the Pelican State). Our research shows that
these kinds of systems give more voters the chance to cast meaningful votes
and, moreover, they result in elected officials who are less extreme and who
better represent their constituents. Stay tuned: We’ll have much more on the
proven benefits of these reforms in the coming months as we continue to roll
out our Solutions Series!





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Setting the record straight on voter turnout in Alaska
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Since Alaska’s historic top-four election in 2022, there have been a lot of
claims from supporters and opponents alike about how the new system affected
voter turnout. To help us understand whatreally happened, we dove into the
numbers
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.



According to the latest research from Unite America and a report from our
partners at the Bipartisan Policy Center
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, Alaska’s primary turnout increased in 2022 while its general election turnout
stayed more or less the same. Why, you ask? Well, while it’s hard to give one
definitive reason, the reform gave independent voters better access and better
choices in the primary. Instead of having to choose which partisan primary to
vote in, the 350,000 independent Alaska voters had the option to vote for all
candidates and choose the one who most aligned with their values. The results
speak for themselves: Anothernew report this week from Sightline Institute
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found that the Alaska reform helped level the playing field for independents,
as they won more representation than ever before.



If you want more detail and analysis, read our latest blog
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!
  


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Housekeeping note: Three Things will be off next week, but I will return to
you inbox Thursday, June 8.


Have a great (long) weekend,



Ross
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Ross Sherman
Press Director, Unite America

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