News
Companies unite in pledge to give workers time for voting
At least 2 million workers will be given paid time off to vote for president this fall under a pact formed by hundreds of companies, which say boosting turnout is part of their corporate civic responsibility.
The agreement was announced Wednesday by a business coalition, Time to Vote, which said 383 firms have already made such a promise. The goal is to expand the roster to 1,000 by Election Day, doubling the participants in a similar initiative ahead of the 2018 congressional midterms.
The commitment by corporate America to support their employees' civic engagement is notable because efforts to shape turnout have been such a partisan flashpoint in recent years — and because not being able to break away from work is the top reason people cite for not voting.
Presidential wannabes doing well on cybersecurity, experts say
The good news from a new report by a cybersecurity firm on the online presence of the Democratic presidential candidates is that they all deserve good grades for their defenses against cyber attacks.
The less good news is that the review, released Thursday by a New York company that conducts information security assessments, rivals any doctor's report you've ever read for arcane and obscure lingo. And that's all the more remarkable given how one of the most bluntly dramatic aspects of the election security narrative four years ago were the cyberattacks on the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
Overall, Security Scorecard found the 14 candidates whose websites and applications were studied (several no longer in the race) all deserved a B or better. Or as the report puts it with masterful bureaucratic understatement, their "cybersecurity posture is positive."
Voting bill in Washington killed by impasse over which felons should benefit
The cause of felon voting rights has suffered an unexpected setback in one of the nation's more progressive states.
Legislation that would allow convicted criminals in Washington to register and vote as soon as they get out of prison was killed Wednesday night in the solidly Democratic state Senate — the victim of a lack of compromise.
The measure, which was spiked on the last day it could advance under the Legislature's rules, had been perhaps the most prominent state legislative effort this year to expand the franchise for freed felons in time for the presidential election.
Debate
Leadership must evolve or we will remain in crisis
"It is time for the vision of Jefferson and the Framers to be realized," argues Bridge Alliance co-founder David Nevins.
Community
Civic Collaboratory
Take a couple days to network with civic innovators across the political spectrum and many domains. Citizen University hosts the Civic Collaboratory on Feb. 27-28 in Atlanta, Ga.