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Ballotpedia is a nonprofit organization, working to build the encyclopedia of American politics. Our work is better when we have direct relationships with the communities we are writing about. These relationships provide us with localized, on-the-ground information, that is then included in our articles which are accessible to millions of people.
The momentous events in cities throughout the country related to the protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, policing, and the health and economic impacts of COVID-19 on these cities, have changed how communities come together, and challenged the ways organizations have historically thought about diversity, hiring, and their missions, work and products.
We want to connect our readers with information about the powerful issues emerging from the conversations that are happening in local communities and ensure that our coverage includes the discussions around issues that could be missed by a lack of diversity in our organization.
We are developing an Election Advisory Board. This initiative is an expansion of the work Ballotpedia did in advance of the 2019 municipal elections in Chicago. Ballotpedia partnered with City Bureau, and the Interactivity Foundation to identify and recruit community members and potential voters in wards with historically lower voter turnout (Wards 15, 16, 24, and 28). These community members participated in several conversations to answer the question: “On what topics do you want to be hearing from the candidates for city office in this spring’s city elections?” From these conversations, we were able to adjust our candidate survey - asking local candidates about the issues that matter most to their potential constituents. About 26% of candidates answered the survey questions that resulted from this work.
Our Election Advisory Board program will launch in 2021. A number of major cities, including some most directly impacted by the events of 2020, have mayoral and other municipal elections. We look forward to collaborating with our readers and working alongside them to better highlight the issues local voters most highly value.
Email meghann@ballotpedia.org if you would like to receive additional information about this program or to nominate an individual to apply.
