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The Knight News Challenge accelerates media innovation by funding breakthrough ideas in news and information.

How might we better inform voters and increase civic participation before, during and after elections?

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Submit your project ideas to the Knight News Challenge: Elections. 

Tell us about your idea, why you think it is a good one and how you and your team will make it happen. Winners receive funding and support from Knight Foundation to help advance their ideas. 

To apply, click the green button to the left that says, "Add your entry"

Please read the questions carefully and adhere to word limits. 

​Submissions close at 5pm Eastern on March 19th .
*The deadline has been extended to 12am ET (midnight) March 20th. 
Due to high volume we experienced a problem with image upload, please submit without images for now and you can update your entry tomorrow, thanks.
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The explosion of information available to us via digital and cable sources can be overwhelming to the average citizen who is confronted with the demands of our modern society. We agree with the adage that "the more hi-tech we get, the more high touch we need". Just as the Bookmobile brings the power of reading and learning to neighborhoods far from public libraries, we wish to bring civic education and empowerment to Floridians residing in low voter turnout areas. The Big Yellow Civic Engagement Van will provide that friendly, helpful person-to-person interaction that good government and a truly connected community requires.

The explosion of information available to us via digital and cable sources can be overwhelming to the average citizen who is confronted with the demands of our modern society. We agree with the adage that "the more hi-tech we get, the more high touch we need". Just as the Bookmobile brings the power of reading and learning to neighborhoods far from public libraries, we wish to bring civic education and empowerment to Floridians residing in low voter turnout areas. The Big Yellow Civic Engagement Van will provide that friendly, helpful person-to-person interaction that good government and a truly connected community requires.

Photo of Elizabeth Mayer Tetreault
112

If you want to know which way the political winds blow in 2016, ask the people of Terre Haute, Indiana. Since 1888, the citizens of Terre Haute and surrounding Vigo County have voted for the winning candidate in every presidential election except two—30 out of 32 elections. They haven't missed in 60 years. No other place in America comes close. What does Terre Haute know—and show—about America? BELLWETHER, a digital documentary, weaves together character stories and data-driven reporting with social media and opinion polls to give users the power to conduct their own yearlong investigation into this phenomenon and to determine if Terre Haute will do it again—and why?

If you want to know which way the political winds blow in 2016, ask the people of Terre Haute, Indiana. Since 1888, the citizens of Terre Haute and surrounding Vigo County have voted for the winning candidate in every presidential election except two—30 out of 32 elections. They haven't missed in 60 years. No other place in America comes close. What does Terre Haute know—and show—about America? BELLWETHER, a digital documentary, weaves together character stories and data-driven reporting with social media and opinion polls to give users the power to conduct their own yearlong investigation into this phenomenon and to determine if Terre Haute will do it again—and why?

Photo of Don Campbell
72

Online voting requires independent accountability. Blockchain is the best available protocol to guarantee that accountability: a decentralized ledger that can certify any kind of event that happens online. Any user, without the need of requesting permission to an organization, can validate and count every interaction or vote that was made by an online application. Who votes remains anonymous but how many votes is verifiable. By combining this protocol with the open source application DemocracyOS (backed by Y Combinator) we could offer an online solution for voting that could guarantee transparency and openness. This is the key to online trust and a leap civic tech needs.

Online voting requires independent accountability. Blockchain is the best available protocol to guarantee that accountability: a decentralized ledger that can certify any kind of event that happens online. Any user, without the need of requesting permission to an organization, can validate and count every interaction or vote that was made by an online application. Who votes remains anonymous but how many votes is verifiable. By combining this protocol with the open source application DemocracyOS (backed by Y Combinator) we could offer an online solution for voting that could guarantee transparency and openness. This is the key to online trust and a leap civic tech needs.

Photo of Pia Mancini
57

The Overseas Military Voting Initiative (OMVI) was created for our service members currently stationed overseas. Our service members abroad will be able to register to vote, request an absentee ballot, receive an absentee ballot and mark an absentee ballot in seconds by using their DOD issued Common Access Card (CAC). The ballot is then printed and returned for counting. This program takes a 60 day process down to 5 minute transaction from anywhere in the world.
The Overseas Military Voting Initiative (OMVI) was created for our service members currently stationed overseas. Our service members abroad will be able to register to vote, request an absentee ballot, receive an absentee ballot and mark an absentee ballot in seconds by using their DOD issued Common Access Card (CAC). The ballot is then printed and returned for counting. This program takes a 60 day process down to 5 minute transaction from anywhere in the world.

The Overseas Military Voting Initiative (OMVI) was created for our service members currently stationed overseas. Our service members abroad will be able to register to vote, request an absentee ballot, receive an absentee ballot and mark an absentee ballot in seconds by using their DOD issued Common Access Card (CAC). The ballot is then printed and returned for counting. This program takes a 60 day process down to 5 minute transaction from anywhere in the world.

Photo of Kim Plyler
42

ATV (atruevote.com) built a system that compares a voter’s political beliefs with all candidates on the ballot and provides a 0-100 percent ranking of compatibility score (cSCORES). Update: We intend to partner with the following entries: https://www.newschallenge.org/challenge/elections/entries/ the-big-yellow-civic-engagement-van calling-a-greater-jury-on-public-policy voter-account-democracy-in-the-palm-of-your-hand voterlab-at-usc-accelerating-the-next-generation-of-voting-technology lenses-instant-mobile-data-visualizations-based-on-election-data govern-the-first-in-our-civic-engagement-through-entertainment-cete-game-series

ATV (atruevote.com) built a system that compares a voter’s political beliefs with all candidates on the ballot and provides a 0-100 percent ranking of compatibility score (cSCORES). Update: We intend to partner with the following entries: https://www.newschallenge.org/challenge/elections/entries/ the-big-yellow-civic-engagement-van calling-a-greater-jury-on-public-policy voter-account-democracy-in-the-palm-of-your-hand voterlab-at-usc-accelerating-the-next-generation-of-voting-technology lenses-instant-mobile-data-visualizations-based-on-election-data govern-the-first-in-our-civic-engagement-through-entertainment-cete-game-series

Photo of Seth Lohr
30

In Robert E. Goodin's book Reflective Democracy he states early on that voters need not be policy wonks but do need trusted sources who are. Most media drums up viewers by highlighting controversy and drama but leaves the viewers without the news of solutions. Yet, a diverse panel of citizens when presented unbiased information can make extraordinary policy decisions that a vast majority of Americans will accept, and learn to trust. The simplest framing of problems and choice creation is especially important. Problems are rather easy to agree upon, solutions are usually elusive, but with an eye for narrow scope, near consensus, and simplicity—a Greater Jury can rather easily be the news of solutions for voters and a greater US.

In Robert E. Goodin's book Reflective Democracy he states early on that voters need not be policy wonks but do need trusted sources who are. Most media drums up viewers by highlighting controversy and drama but leaves the viewers without the news of solutions. Yet, a diverse panel of citizens when presented unbiased information can make extraordinary policy decisions that a vast majority of Americans will accept, and learn to trust. The simplest framing of problems and choice creation is especially important. Problems are rather easy to agree upon, solutions are usually elusive, but with an eye for narrow scope, near consensus, and simplicity—a Greater Jury can rather easily be the news of solutions for voters and a greater US.

Photo of Jonathan Denn
27

An Election Reform action hub where members of the election reform community can share ideas, form consensus and generate action plans that can be broken into microactions that many people can work on. The jumping off point for me was a series of lively email conversations that I started last spring with my friend and colleague Curtis Gans who sadly passed away recently, about how to get more voters involved in elections. The title of the site is a reference to the 49.4 % average voter turnout since 2000 (based on his meticulous research.) Possible topics for discussion: Getting money out of politics Same day voter registration Security and methods of voting Obstacle to 3rd party candidates The Electoral College
An Election Reform action hub where members of the election reform community can share ideas, form consensus and generate action plans that can be broken into microactions that many people can work on. The jumping off point for me was a series of lively email conversations that I started last spring with my friend and colleague Curtis Gans who sadly passed away recently, about how to get more voters involved in elections. The title of the site is a reference to the 49.4 % average voter turnout since 2000 (based on his meticulous research.) Possible topics for discussion: Getting money out of politics Same day voter registration Security and methods of voting Obstacle to 3rd party candidates The Electoral College

An Election Reform action hub where members of the election reform community can share ideas, form consensus and generate action plans that can be broken into microactions that many people can work on. The jumping off point for me was a series of lively email conversations that I started last spring with my friend and colleague Curtis Gans who sadly passed away recently, about how to get more voters involved in elections. The title of the site is a reference to the 49.4 % average voter turnout since 2000 (based on his meticulous research.) Possible topics for discussion: Getting money out of politics Same day voter registration Security and methods of voting Obstacle to 3rd party candidates The Electoral College

Photo of lulu
27

Vote-by-mail eliminates problems at the polls, reduces election costs, and boosts voter turnout. We’ll make it possible to sign up by smartphone so it’s easier for millions more to vote. As a tech and data provider for many of the largest nonpartisan voter participation projects, Long Distance Voter will prototype paperless e-signature solutions in two states in 2016, and help our partners increase turnout nationwide in 2018 and 2020. E-signatures are used in all other areas of government; most citizens have smartphones; and printing is waning. E-signatures are a key tool for us and our partners, including TurboVote, Rock the Vote, Voto Latino, Headcount, the League of Conservation Voters, the Student PIRGs, and 18MillionRising.

Vote-by-mail eliminates problems at the polls, reduces election costs, and boosts voter turnout. We’ll make it possible to sign up by smartphone so it’s easier for millions more to vote. As a tech and data provider for many of the largest nonpartisan voter participation projects, Long Distance Voter will prototype paperless e-signature solutions in two states in 2016, and help our partners increase turnout nationwide in 2018 and 2020. E-signatures are used in all other areas of government; most citizens have smartphones; and printing is waning. E-signatures are a key tool for us and our partners, including TurboVote, Rock the Vote, Voto Latino, Headcount, the League of Conservation Voters, the Student PIRGs, and 18MillionRising.

Photo of Debra Cleaver
25

Parallax World is a current events website that explains the news through perspectives. Readers can toggle between viewpoints of politicians and key parties at parallaxworld.com. We believe voters in America are not engaged with the political system because they do not have a consistent, easily digestible resource to see differing policy positions amongst leaders. We want to correct this problem by structuring the news around perspectives. Each article contains three politicians or leaders and their views on the event in question. By reading Parallax World, readers will know what key politicians think and, most importantly, why they think it.

Parallax World is a current events website that explains the news through perspectives. Readers can toggle between viewpoints of politicians and key parties at parallaxworld.com. We believe voters in America are not engaged with the political system because they do not have a consistent, easily digestible resource to see differing policy positions amongst leaders. We want to correct this problem by structuring the news around perspectives. Each article contains three politicians or leaders and their views on the event in question. By reading Parallax World, readers will know what key politicians think and, most importantly, why they think it.

Photo of Sean Daley
23

We propose partnering with nearby universities to conduct an exit poll using Introduction to American Politics students. Although we will design and conduct a scientific survey, our primary aim is to field as many student pollsters as possible. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that going to polling places and interacting with voters stimulates political engagement in students, but no previous effort has surveyed the student participants before and after the experience to assess the effect. Rock [and Poll] the Vote will get thousands of college students involved in the Nov. 2016 election, measure the impact of the experience, and produce scientific survey results for dissemination on election night and subsequent analyses.

We propose partnering with nearby universities to conduct an exit poll using Introduction to American Politics students. Although we will design and conduct a scientific survey, our primary aim is to field as many student pollsters as possible. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that going to polling places and interacting with voters stimulates political engagement in students, but no previous effort has surveyed the student participants before and after the experience to assess the effect. Rock [and Poll] the Vote will get thousands of college students involved in the Nov. 2016 election, measure the impact of the experience, and produce scientific survey results for dissemination on election night and subsequent analyses.

Photo of Ryan Claassen
22

CivCity Quest is for the kid in everyone. This year-round, community-wide game will create a playful competition for civic activities like attending public meetings or candidate forums; posting selfies with elected officials; answering a Twitter quiz; playing civic trivia at a local pub; reporting county board action to a local Wiki; or voting. We’ll use a popular game infrastructure created by the Ann Arbor District Library and saturate the community with ways to engage, both online and in real life. Rankings will be posted on a leaderboard and businesses will provide rewards, like gift certificates for restaurants or movie tickets, for hitting milestones. CivCity Quest will end with an annual civic celebration, then the game begins anew.

CivCity Quest is for the kid in everyone. This year-round, community-wide game will create a playful competition for civic activities like attending public meetings or candidate forums; posting selfies with elected officials; answering a Twitter quiz; playing civic trivia at a local pub; reporting county board action to a local Wiki; or voting. We’ll use a popular game infrastructure created by the Ann Arbor District Library and saturate the community with ways to engage, both online and in real life. Rankings will be posted on a leaderboard and businesses will provide rewards, like gift certificates for restaurants or movie tickets, for hitting milestones. CivCity Quest will end with an annual civic celebration, then the game begins anew.

Photo of Mary Morgan
20

Absentee voting needs a makeover. Vote (Mostly) Online is a concierge absentee voting service to help Millennials vote from home. No polls, printers, stamps, or pants needed. We combine the trend of mailed subscription box start-ups with fresh UX design to redesign the complicated absentee voting experience so more Millennials will use the convenience. Voters go to VoteMostlyOnline.com to educate themselves and request a ballot be mailed to their doorstep. If they need to register, we complete the forms and mail them a distinct yellow package for signature and return. When the ballot arrives at via mail, the voter can Google to make informed choices at their leisure. Our (mostly) concierge provides step-by-step help throughout.

Absentee voting needs a makeover. Vote (Mostly) Online is a concierge absentee voting service to help Millennials vote from home. No polls, printers, stamps, or pants needed. We combine the trend of mailed subscription box start-ups with fresh UX design to redesign the complicated absentee voting experience so more Millennials will use the convenience. Voters go to VoteMostlyOnline.com to educate themselves and request a ballot be mailed to their doorstep. If they need to register, we complete the forms and mail them a distinct yellow package for signature and return. When the ballot arrives at via mail, the voter can Google to make informed choices at their leisure. Our (mostly) concierge provides step-by-step help throughout.

Photo of Kyle Pfister
18

To have a functioning democracy, citizens need reliable, verifiable information – news they can trust. Employing a mix of unique online technology and offline, in-person meetings, we propose to teach community members the key tenets underlying the emerging field of News Literacy (such as verification, accountability, independence, transparency, source evaluation, etc.) and then to train them how to use powerful tools and techniques that can assist them in accessing and assessing news and information – as well as creating and distributing it. We plan to start with a Chicago-based pilot with definable outcomes that can be measured and assessed according to rigorous standards, which will enable us to take the project rapidly to scale.

To have a functioning democracy, citizens need reliable, verifiable information – news they can trust. Employing a mix of unique online technology and offline, in-person meetings, we propose to teach community members the key tenets underlying the emerging field of News Literacy (such as verification, accountability, independence, transparency, source evaluation, etc.) and then to train them how to use powerful tools and techniques that can assist them in accessing and assessing news and information – as well as creating and distributing it. We plan to start with a Chicago-based pilot with definable outcomes that can be measured and assessed according to rigorous standards, which will enable us to take the project rapidly to scale.

Photo of Rory Oconnor
18

If you realized, after the fact, there was a system that could notify you when your favorite park was going to be leveled, just so that new department store could have a larger parking lot... would you have used it? Or, when that new local tax option was being formed that directly impacts your financial planning... would you have liked to have known when and where to make your voice heard? Maybe your children are now affected by a vote, that puts your home 20 miles away from their newly rezoned school. Is that something that you would like to have known about before it was too late? We bet you do, because we would have liked to have known the same. Luckily, our startup has this in production, along with many more future plans.

If you realized, after the fact, there was a system that could notify you when your favorite park was going to be leveled, just so that new department store could have a larger parking lot... would you have used it? Or, when that new local tax option was being formed that directly impacts your financial planning... would you have liked to have known when and where to make your voice heard? Maybe your children are now affected by a vote, that puts your home 20 miles away from their newly rezoned school. Is that something that you would like to have known about before it was too late? We bet you do, because we would have liked to have known the same. Luckily, our startup has this in production, along with many more future plans.

Photo of Matt Hudson
17

We Vote USA is a nonprofit volunteer-driven movement (currently 70+ volunteers), dedicated to bringing social collaboration to the process of making voting decisions. We are building an open platform where voters can create and share personal voter guides (with aggregated information and opinions from friends and organizations they trust) across their social networks, which will encourage voting on all ballot items. All of our designs assume voters will only give 8 minutes of their time, and in that time we want them to also share with their friends. Between elections, concerned citizens can add relevant news stories to the “permanent record” of candidates and issues, so a history of public conversation is available during elections.

We Vote USA is a nonprofit volunteer-driven movement (currently 70+ volunteers), dedicated to bringing social collaboration to the process of making voting decisions. We are building an open platform where voters can create and share personal voter guides (with aggregated information and opinions from friends and organizations they trust) across their social networks, which will encourage voting on all ballot items. All of our designs assume voters will only give 8 minutes of their time, and in that time we want them to also share with their friends. Between elections, concerned citizens can add relevant news stories to the “permanent record” of candidates and issues, so a history of public conversation is available during elections.

Photo of Dale McGrew
17

Ballot-ly is a ballot marking tool to help voters time-shift when they review and make their ballot choices. The Presidential Commission on Election Administration Report recommends providing voters with a sample ballot marker to mark ballots ahead of time in order to make voting easier on Election Day. Ballot-ly is open source software to do just that using open data published by election jurisdictions. The Ballot-ly App uses standard security/privacy technology. Voters can choose their own place and time to see the set of ballot choices, and privately make their choices for use on Election Day using a choice of methods of recording. This Project combines capabilities of the TrustTheVote Project and Galois, a secure computing company.

Ballot-ly is a ballot marking tool to help voters time-shift when they review and make their ballot choices. The Presidential Commission on Election Administration Report recommends providing voters with a sample ballot marker to mark ballots ahead of time in order to make voting easier on Election Day. Ballot-ly is open source software to do just that using open data published by election jurisdictions. The Ballot-ly App uses standard security/privacy technology. Voters can choose their own place and time to see the set of ballot choices, and privately make their choices for use on Election Day using a choice of methods of recording. This Project combines capabilities of the TrustTheVote Project and Galois, a secure computing company.

Photo of Gregory Miller
17

The original American Dream -- in U.S. Declaration of Independence & Constitution -- was inadvertently replaced in the 1950s by a very different version of the American Dream. The 1950s version was installed for largely noble reasons BUT its unintended negative impacts have been massive, and affect all aspects of our society: from personal happiness, health & prosperity, to the economy, education, journalism, marketing & governance. The political & ideological polarization this has created is paralyzing our society & the governance process. To create sustainable solutions we must replace fighting over symptoms with widespread knowledge about their causes & how to resolve them. My keynotes on this enhance civic participation & effectiveness.

The original American Dream -- in U.S. Declaration of Independence & Constitution -- was inadvertently replaced in the 1950s by a very different version of the American Dream. The 1950s version was installed for largely noble reasons BUT its unintended negative impacts have been massive, and affect all aspects of our society: from personal happiness, health & prosperity, to the economy, education, journalism, marketing & governance. The political & ideological polarization this has created is paralyzing our society & the governance process. To create sustainable solutions we must replace fighting over symptoms with widespread knowledge about their causes & how to resolve them. My keynotes on this enhance civic participation & effectiveness.

Photo of David Gruder
16

Lenses is a new tool that lets anyone build and transform interactive graphics for mobile audiences. Lenses empowers people to explore government data and create civic-based stories, without any programming skills. Unlike existing easy-to-use data viz platforms, it is open-source and extensible, meaning that additional features can be added by its users, and the potential of the tool grows as more people use it. Each data visualization created in Lenses preserves the steps taken to create it, enabling new users to learn how to make sophisticated graphs by seeing how more advanced users have produced visualizations. Lenses encourages transparency and visual literacy, helping people investigate what candidates are proposing.

Lenses is a new tool that lets anyone build and transform interactive graphics for mobile audiences. Lenses empowers people to explore government data and create civic-based stories, without any programming skills. Unlike existing easy-to-use data viz platforms, it is open-source and extensible, meaning that additional features can be added by its users, and the potential of the tool grows as more people use it. Each data visualization created in Lenses preserves the steps taken to create it, enabling new users to learn how to make sophisticated graphs by seeing how more advanced users have produced visualizations. Lenses encourages transparency and visual literacy, helping people investigate what candidates are proposing.

Photo of Amy Chen
16

In 2014, 17% of RI young adult voters (ages 18-29) turned out to vote compared to the national average of 21.5%. The challenge is to increase civic participation among young adults and to develop sustainable voting habits among new voters. Furthermore, our urban young adult population is increasingly diverse and underrepresented among election workers and officials. The Department of State would like to create a statewide Civic Fellowship Program that will inspire, recruit and train young adults to: 1) leverage social relationships that increase participation; 2) develop volunteers to help administer elections, and 3) grow and strengthen the relationships between local election officials and young adults.

In 2014, 17% of RI young adult voters (ages 18-29) turned out to vote compared to the national average of 21.5%. The challenge is to increase civic participation among young adults and to develop sustainable voting habits among new voters. Furthermore, our urban young adult population is increasingly diverse and underrepresented among election workers and officials. The Department of State would like to create a statewide Civic Fellowship Program that will inspire, recruit and train young adults to: 1) leverage social relationships that increase participation; 2) develop volunteers to help administer elections, and 3) grow and strengthen the relationships between local election officials and young adults.

Photo of Rhode Island Department of State
16

The Cambridge Voter Portal is a replicable community wide participatory campaign and technology tool to engage and educate frequent voters, those who have never before voted, and candidates. Cambridge Community Television will partner with Collaborative Stakeholders to solicit participation from every corner of the city. The interactive portal will provide aggregated: • Multi-media candidate profiles, continuously updated by each candidate • Ongoing multi-media public conversations between candidates and voters • Candidate responses to questions posed by a range of stakeholders and partners • RSS and Twitter aggregators • An explanation of Cambridge’s voting system of proportional representation • Voter registration information

The Cambridge Voter Portal is a replicable community wide participatory campaign and technology tool to engage and educate frequent voters, those who have never before voted, and candidates. Cambridge Community Television will partner with Collaborative Stakeholders to solicit participation from every corner of the city. The interactive portal will provide aggregated: • Multi-media candidate profiles, continuously updated by each candidate • Ongoing multi-media public conversations between candidates and voters • Candidate responses to questions posed by a range of stakeholders and partners • RSS and Twitter aggregators • An explanation of Cambridge’s voting system of proportional representation • Voter registration information

Photo of Susan Fleischmann
15

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