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Webinar rewind: Election administration in a pandemic

More than 100 democracy reformers and state and local policy makers tuned in Monday for a wide-ranging discussion about preparations for conducting this year's election during a pandemic — and what role various electoral reforms might have in boosting turnout.

The hour-long webinar was hosted by the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers in partnership with the Unite America Institute. Click the image above to watch.


Participants in the panel discussion and Q&A session were CEO Amber McReynolds of the National Vote at Home Institute, FairVote President Rob Ritchie, Kansas Democratic Party Chairwoman Vicki Hiatt and Amelia Powers Gardner, the GOP chief elections official in Provo, Utah. Their discussion was moderated by The Fulcrum's editor-in-chief, David Hawkings.

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Ken Powley
Team Democracy

Meet the change leaders: Ken Powley

Nevins is co-publisher ofThe Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of theBridge Alliance Education Fund.

Ken Powley and Chris Newlon founded Team Democracy in early 2021. Its signature initiative is the nonpartisan Safe and Fair Election Pledge. The pledge is designed to create an important piece of common ground where Americans — including their elected representatives — can join together from opposite sides of the aisle in committing themselves to protecting the most essential guardrails of American democracy: safe and fair elections, and the peaceful transfer of power.

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Drawing of a scene from "Alice in Wonderland"

Alice attends the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, iIllustration by Sir John Tenniel.

Andrew_Howe

We live in our own version of Wonderland

Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."

“Curiouser and curiouser,” Alice cried after falling down the rabbit hole in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

In nearly every arena of our lives we might observe the same, from our changing climate and increasingly high-stakes global conflicts, to space travel, energy conservation and the accelerating use of artificial intelligence. And, of course, in our volatile politics. Things are indeed getting curiouser.

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NVIDIA headquarters

Our stock market pivots on the performance of a handful of AI-focused companies like Nvidia.

hapabapa/Getty Images

We may face another 'too big to fail' scenario as AI labs go unchecked

Frazier is an assistant professor at the Crump College of Law at St. Thomas University and a Tarbell fellow.

In the span of two or so years, OpenAI, Nvidia and a handful of other companies essential to the development of artificial intelligence have become economic behemoths. Their valuations and stock prices have soared. Their products have become essential to Fortune 500 companies. Their business plans are the focus of the national security industry. Their collapse would be, well, unacceptable. They are too big to fail.

The good news is we’ve been in similar situations before. The bad news is we’ve yet to really learn our lesson.

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Woman dancing

Mexican Independence Day celebration in Chicago

We must welcome in Latine unity

Marín is the co-creator and community advocate at BECOME. Rodríguez is the co-executive director of Enlace Chicago.

The Welcoming Neighborhood Listening Initiative delves into the dynamic social landscape of Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, exploring resident perspectives on the influx of new neighbors seeking asylum. The study moves beyond traditional data collection to activate community members as leaders in driving transformative solutions. Ultimately, the report emphasizes the importance of culturally responsive training and community dialogues to foster understanding, bridge cultural divides and build a more inclusive Little Village for all.

Chicago just marked Mexican Independence Day with a reinstated celebration of El Grito in downtown and an annual parade in La Villita, a primarily Mexican neighborhood also known as Little Village. These festivities kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month, which celebrates the independence of Mexico along with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Chile.

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Meet the change leaders: Pearce Godwin

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Pearce Godwin is founder of the Listen First Project and the #ListenFirst Coalition of 500 organizations bringing Americans together across differences to listen, understand each other and discover common interests.

He catalyzes the movement to save America from toxic polarization by shifting social norms from division, distrust, contempt and violence toward connection, understanding and belonging. Pearce manages large-scale, co-created endeavors such as Meeting of America and the annual National Week of Conversation to engage as many Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs as possible to turn down the heat and find a way forward together.

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