Ballotpedia

This is the last week to apply to Ballotpedia's Fellows Program! Applications will close on August 18th. Every voter in America should have a clear and comprehensive understanding of the candidates on their ballot. And, as we inch closer to November, this mission becomes even more critical. Become a Ballotpedia Fellow this fall to help research important data points about local candidates across the country. Apply today: https://lnkd.in/eivjtRm3

"In answer to your question: Yes, American politics has never been like this before." -Leslie Graves, Ballotpedia Founder and CEO, writes in her monthly column with PBS's Preserving Democracy. Graves writes about how, in these times, rejecting hyperbole and violence is crucial. To do this, Graves recommends stepping away and taking a nice, deep breath. After that... we must get to work. Get to work by becoming informed, thoughtful, active participants in our civic life. The full Pathfinder column can be found here: https://lnkd.in/eHePvEfY

As we approach November, the work our Fellows do is more important than ever! Take a look at some of the amazing data from our Spring 2024 Fellows: -7,742 attributes/data points on candidates found -3,776 candidates researched -747 volunteer hours logged If you, or anyone you may know, is interested in becoming a Ballotpedia Fellow this election season, please share this application with them! And, reach out if you have questions. We are SO proud of the program and happy to talk about it. https://lnkd.in/eivjtRm3

Deepfakes have become a pressing social and political issue that an increasing number of state lawmakers are trying to address through legislation. The number of bills in this space has grown from an average of 28 per year from 2019-2023, to 294 bills introduced to date in 2024. Deepfake-related bills have increased 950% over the previous five-year average. To understand this giant increase in deepfake legislation, let’s start at the beginning. What is a deepfake? According to the Government Accountability Office, deepfakes are “videos, audio, or images that seem real but have been manipulated with AI.” You’ve probably seen a deepfake image or video, as many have gone viral; think of the pope in a puffer jacket. While some may be considered humorous, most are not. Organizations, lawmakers, and journalists have expressed concerns about deepfake technology. These concerns include the proliferation of child sexual abuse material and other nonconsensual sexual content and the distribution of deceptive political communications and election disinformation, just to name a few. With the increasing prevalence of AI, legislators are working to address these concerns. That’s why Ballotpedia has created and launched a comprehensive AI Deepfake Legislation Tracker and Ballotpedia’s State of Deepfake Legislation 2024 Annual Report, available here. The goal of Ballotpedia’s newest tracker is simple: to let people know what’s happening—in real time—with deepfake legislation in all 50 states. The tracker provides historical context on deepfake legislation going back to 2019 and covers these topics: - Political and election-related communications - Pornographic and child sexual abuse material (so-called deepfake nudes) - Fraud and extortion - Property rights Access the new tracker here: https://lnkd.in/gigGXyzN

Ballotpedia's Founder and CEO, Leslie Graves, writes monthly columns with PBS's Preserving Democracy. Each month she explores topics vital to understanding American civics. This month's column discusses how individual voters can regain their agency in our two-party system that often favors specific voters in key swing states. The full column is available here: https://lnkd.in/ePbAUhj2

Our Editor-in-Chief joined #TheVotingBooth podcast to discuss the work that goes into building an elections encyclopedia, from gathering the initial information to packaging it up for voters in our Sample Ballot Lookup Tool. You can learn more about what goes into creating and maintaining the Encyclopedia of American Politics by listening to the episode here: https://bit.ly/3X5hIX7

We are pleased to announce our new 50 State Administrative State Legislation Tracker. The first nationwide resource for state-level administrative state bill tracking, it provides a free hub for individuals to follow administrative state legislative reforms in every state legislature. The Administrative State Legislation Tracker is our second legislative tracker, joining our existing Elections Administration Tracker. These trackers offer free, comprehensive data. Before them, you’d need to have access or a subscription to a legislative database. That's why we're so proud of these trackers: the information regarding Administrative State Legislation or Election Legislation now belongs to you! We hope you learn tons and enjoy following bills in your respective states! https://lnkd.in/eBG2ymga

Local races matter. A lot. Mayors, county executives, school boards -- the outcomes of those elections directly affect people's day-to-day. Yet local election coverage is suffering because of local news cutbacks, and only one results provider in the US covers races all the way down the ballot. That's why we at Decision Desk HQ are proud to announce our new partnership with Ballotpedia to provide our embeddable graphics and real-time results for literally tens of thousands of local races around the US this year, starting next week in Indiana. Thanks to Geoff Pallay and our friends at Ballotpedia! https://lnkd.in/eCYeXHjT

In her monthly column with PBS's Preserving Democracy, BP Founder, Leslie Graves, talks about food as a metaphor for voting: it is best when savored and enjoyed. Much like the "slow food" movement, founded in Rome, "slow voting" is an antidote to the oversimplified and fast-paced nature of American politics. The voting process deserves a thoughtful and meaningful approach. Remember to take time to understand the issues and candidates on the ballot. Read Leslie's full column here: https://lnkd.in/dpcdBFk8

Ballotpedia's podcast, On the Ballot, was very lucky to have MIT's Election Data and Science Lab Director, Charles Stewart on the show to chat about their Elections Performance Index. It's a great episode; we hope you'll check it out! You can find the newest episode here: https://bit.ly/3Uyjiin