Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

The case for making Election Day an official holiday

Nov 3, 2020
Andrea Hailey, CEO of the nonprofit Vote.org, thinks making Election Day a national holiday would go far in increasing turnout.
"A lot of these businesses know that it's within their business interest to make sure that people can participate and vote," says Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

How Black Americans have been blocked from voting throughout U.S. history

A conversation with Gilda R. Daniels, author of “Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America.”
Various labor unions and progressive organizations protest on Capitol Hill Sept. 16, 2015, calling for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act struck down by the Supreme Court.
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images

Political groups spend millions to turn out new voters

Sep 15, 2020
Finding and educating previously unregistered voters — and getting them to the polls — is an expensive business.
A voter casts her ballot in Louisville  during Kentucky's primary in June.
Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

In Florida, if you have a felony conviction, voting will cost you

Sep 15, 2020
A new ruling means anyone with a felony conviction in Florida must pay fees, fines and restitution before they can vote.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

What if the weakest link in election security is ... confidence?

Oct 25, 2018
We take a look at what states are doing to prepare for the midterm elections.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Campaigns target young voters, but will they show up on Election Day?

Oct 10, 2018
This campaign season, millions of dollars are being spent to convince young voters to register and vote in the midterm elections.
A pollster loads paper into a primary registration machine at the Travis County Courthouse in 2008 in Austin, Texas.
Ben Sklar/Getty Images

Using its powers for good: Facebook's voter sign-up campaign

Oct 13, 2016
A short campaign in September resulted in thousands now registered to vote.
Carl Court/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Finding unregistered voters can be a costly process

Oct 6, 2016
In many places it costs a lot to register voters who are not already signed up to vote, and that leaves a lot of people out of the democratic process.
Eunice Warren, a New Georgia Project volunteer, waves a clipboard at people entering a Wal-Mart outside Atlanta, as part of a voter registration effort. 
Johnny Kauffman/wABE

The Digital Vote: States and Nonprofits Push for Voter Registration Online

Sep 24, 2012
Let's start with the anatomy of a troll: First you email. Then you follow up with a text. Then, if all else fails, you place a phone call. All of this to get your kid in college to register to vote. Technology to the rescue?