John,

It’s been another busy month here at Issue One as we continue our work to fix our broken political system and build an inclusive democracy that works for everyone.

We want to make sure we’re keeping you — the Issue One community — in the loop about all of that work and the progress we’re making. Here are some highlights from November:

Protecting Our Elections

• As part of our Faces of Democracy campaign, we’ve been featuring election workers from across the country to highlight the work they do on behalf of our democracy. Check out the latest installment of our Meet the Faces of Democracy series: a Q&A with Tonya Wichman, the director of elections in Defiance County, Ohio!
• Faces of Democracy members Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt testified before the Senate Rules Committee in a hearing focused on the ongoing threats to election administration. Both cited the need for Congress to adequately fund elections to help mitigate the impact of high turnover of election officials.
• Our “The High Cost of High Turnover” report continued to make headlines, being featured in outlets such as the New York Times, USA Today, CNN, and MSNBC. And be sure to check out the op-ed in Ms. Magazine penned by Faces of Democracy member Carly Koppes, clerk and recorder in Weld County, Colorado, about why an exodus of election officials is bad for democracy.
• Issue One convened current and former election officials for a webinar to discuss high turnover rates and ongoing threats to elections. Missed the event? Watch the recording!

Holding Big Tech Accountable

• Issue One’s Council for Responsible Social Media (CRSM) and Fairplay teamed up to release a new poll that found overwhelming public support for bipartisan legislation to protect kids from online harms.
• Earlier this month, a whistleblower came forward with new details about how Meta uses internal systems that dramatically underestimate the mental health harms experienced by Instagram and Facebook users, especially children and teens. The CRSM released a statement in wake of the news that called for congressional action to hold Big Tech accountable for putting profits over kids’ safety online. Council member and Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen shared her insights in this interview on MSNBC.
• Our CRSM recently hosted "Conspiracies on Social Media: When Nothing Is True, and Everything Is Possible" — an event that convened experts in democracy, technology, and information integrity to discuss how the design of social media makes it such a powerful tool for false information and what we can do to fortify our information ecosystem ahead of the 2024 election. Watch the recording.
• ICYMI, the Safe Tech, Safe Kids campaign launched at the end of October. Issue One and our CRSM are proud partners of this campaign, led by Project Liberty, which is composed of organizations that are committed to a world in which young people and those who care about them have the tools, the transparency, and the agency they need to stay safe online and thrive.

Exposing Dark Money

• We reviewed federal tax filings and found that PhRMA has contributed more than $34.5 million to the Republican-aligned dark money group American Action Network since 2010, including a record $7.5 million last year. Read about the findings.
• Our analysis of PhRMA’s contributions to this dark money group was featured in Politico and Ars Technica.

To stay in the loop all month long, make sure you check out IssueOne.org and follow us on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook!

Thanks for your support,
The Issue One Team