Happy Thanksgiving from Unite America! 🦃

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s been an incredibly exciting year for the election reform movement, and here at Unite America we have a lot to be thankful for, including all of you.

2022 has already proven to be one for the books, as the victories from this year generated tremendous momentum for the Voter’s First movement. Alaska implemented the country’s first top-four election system — a win for solving the Primary Problem that is already giving Alaskan voters more voice and more choice; and Nevada voters just advanced an initiative that would create a similar system in 2026. This midterm election we also supported and cheered on big victories for ranked choice voting: as many as seven new cities and counties may adopt it by the time vote-counting is finished. Presently, 61 jurisdictions representing 15 million Americans use ranked choice voting — giving power back to the voters.

We couldn’t have achieved these historic victories across the country without your support and engagement in the movement. Together, as a community of reformers, we are helping fix our nation’s dysfunctional government by putting power in the hands of the voters, instead of politicians. And for that alone, we are thankful.

Here are three things that Unite America is thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday:

1. Thank you to our incredible partner organizations!

Reform wins do not happen without incredible state-based partners. Alaskans for Better Elections implemented the first top-four nonpartisan primary in the country’s history; FairVote Washington looks set to win a first of its kind reform in Seattle; Building Power for Communities of Color brought proportional representation to Portland, OR; RCV for Fort Collins made the city the sixth in Colorado to adopt the reform; Nevada Voters First won Final-Five Voting statewide, while Protect AR Constitution defeated an attack on their initiative process; FairVote Illinois made Evanston the first city in their state to end plurality elections; and so much more. None of it would be possible without national partners like Open Primaries, FairVote, RepresentUs, RCV Resource Center, RepresentWomen, Campaign Legal Center, Veterans for Political Innovation, and so many others.

2. We are thankful for our election officials

This midterm election would not have been possible without the outstanding work of election officials across our nation, who worked tirelessly to uphold our democracy. We thank you for following very specific laws and detailed procedures, for serving voters all year long amidst threats and intimidation, and for not wavering in your dedication to run safe and secure elections.

Thank you to the front desk workers at election offices: you took phone calls from voters in the days, weeks, and even months leading up to November 8th, fielding questions about polling locations, absentee deadlines, sample ballots, and voter registrations.

Thank you to the Election Day recruiters and coordinators for your efforts to properly train poll workers — polling sites across the nation had well-trained and nonpartisan election workers overseeing the process, allowing elections to remain an open and transparent process.

And a huge thank you to the poll workers who worked tirelessly for weeks to serve voters face-to-face, taking special care of elderly and disabled voters, and supporting voters casting a ballot for the first time.

3. We are thankful for YOU and for your support of the election reform movement!

The Voters First movement is growing and gaining momentum, and it is thanks to you that we have seen victories and successes in recent years! Thank you for supporting your local grassroots campaigns working to advance election reforms in your own communities.

Thank you for educating yourself and others about ballot measures and election reform research that are helping to give power back to voters. And thank you for your financial support to help us further advance the work we are doing to help fix our dysfunctional government and uphold our democracy. We would not be where we are without your support and are truly thankful to have you as fellow reformers in our movement.

Happy Thanksgiving from our Unite America family to yours.