Democracy

 Sentencing Project - The United States is an outlier nation in that it strips voting rights from millions of citizenss olely on the basis of a criminal conviction. As of 2022, over 4.4 million people in the United States were disenfranchised due to a felony conviction.³ This is due in part to over 50 years of U.S. mass incarceration, wherein the U.S. incarcerated population increased from about 360,000 people in the early 1970s to nearly 2 million in 2022. While many U.S. states have scaled back their disenfranchisement provisions, a trend that has accelerated since 2017, the United States still lags behind most of the world in protecting the right to vote for people with criminal convictions.

Fair Vote -  So far in 2024, 49 candidates have won statewide and congressional primaries with less than 50% of the vote, a new FairVote analysis finds. This is across the 32 states that have held primaries, and includes at least 12 candidates who won with a third of the vote or less.... Ranked choice voting could help voters and parties select stronger and more representative candidates in primaries. It’s now used in all public elections in 50 cities, counties, and states, and has been used in primaries in states including Maine, New York City, Virginia, and Utah. In all of these places, RCV solves the problem of “fewest votes wins” and delivers winners with majority support.   

Marijuana Policy Project -   There are several factors propelling cannabis reform across the United States. Public opinion has steadily become more favorable towards legalization, and according to Gallup polls, more than two-thirds of Americans now support legalizing cannabis for adults’ use, a dramatic increase from decades prior. The potential for tax revenue and economic benefits is also a strong motivator for many states. Additionally, the racial disparities in cannabis arrests are prompting calls for criminal justice reform.  While some states have fully embraced legalization for both medical and recreational use, others have yet to budge on prohibition. This regional breakdown highlights the fragmented nature of cannabis policy in the United States.