Building a Strong Democracy

Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement Mobilizes Communities to Encourage Voter Participation

Heading into the 2024 presidential election, several threats to American democracy are clear to Professor Mike Hanmer of the Department of Government and Politics, such as the barriers that many Americans face when voting, and deep political divisions among the public. He conducts research and is engaging partners to better understand these threats, especially in his role as the director of UMD’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE).

CDCE collaborates with policymakers, journalists, and community leaders, with guidance from Chief Strategist Sam Novey. Through CDCE, UMD scholars from across disciplines contribute expertise to inform strategy, and to find new solutions to strengthening democracy.

Convening Modern American Suffrage Movements

CDCE co-founded the Vote 16 Research Network, which engages activists as well as scholars worldwide to understand what happens when communities lower the voting age to 16. Many countries have experimented with lowering the voting age, and so have several American communities—including seven communities in the state of Maryland.

The group recently published a Vote 16 Implementation Guide for local election officials, and conducted surveys testing how Americans respond to different messages about lowering the voting age. These actions provide valuable information on how Vote 16 policies are perceived and implemented in different communities.

Mobilizing Colleges and Schools to Support New Voters

CDCE has also mobilized high schools and college campuses to assist new voters. This work is part of a Grand Challenges Impact Award that supports the Maryland Democracy Initiative, a collaboration between BSOS, the College of Education, the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, and the School of Public Policy.

“We are working with people who are nonpartisan, who believe in bipartisan collaboration, who are advocates for democracy, and who are concerned citizens,” Hanmer said. “When you take the time to build the relationships, you create the trust to have honest conversations on many issues and build toward solutions.”

Especially when working with high school and college students, Hanmer said the impact of voting at a young age can last a lifetime. “Research shows that voting is ‘habit-forming,’ and that not voting is ‘habit-forming,’” Hanmer said. “Schools are some of the most effective and equitable ways to engage people.”

Addressing Low and Unequal Voter Participation

Working with VoteRiders, Public Wise, and the Brennan Center for Justice, CDCE conducted a survey about which forms of identification citizens have, and what members of the public know about the laws on voter identification. This work guides strategies that help people who need IDs get them, and to get registered and ready to vote.

“It’s clear that people need assistance getting IDs, and we want to help meet that need,” Hanmer said. “Our new survey is the first since 2006 focused on this issue, and it was designed to find out how many people lack the ID they need, which groups are most in need of IDs, and how much the public is confused about what ID they might need in their state in order to vote.”

Providing Resources to Newly Elected Officials

Hanmer and Novey have observed “a scramble” when newly elected officials at all levels of government must quickly hire teams, meet constituents, and take office just weeks after elections are over.

Hanmer and Novey worked with government transition experts to develop a Civic Transition Toolkit, a resource available to members of any party to help them run an inclusive and effective government transition that can inspire trust from all members of the public.

The toolkit is a “one-stop shop” containing information that is useful to posting and filling government jobs, as well as advice on how to gain constituent input even before a new leader takes office. Transition team leaders for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller worked closely with CDCE to build the toolkit.

“We see this resource as a way to give a voice to the public, who are eager to have their needs known and met by officials coming into new roles,” Novey said. “We hope this tool makes government transitions more effective.

Keeping a Nonpartisan Pulse on Public Opinion

Hanmer and his collaborators produce The Washington Post-UMD Poll, which sheds light on Americans’ often complex and polarized views on timely topics. For example, an iteration of this poll found that sympathy for the rioters involved in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has grown in the years since that violent day.

The poll continues to show a divided electorate, and Hanmer said that no matter who ultimately wins the presidential election in November, he does anticipate controversy and contestation.

“I think it’s going to be close in a handful of states. It’s going to be very important how we talk about and respect election administrators. They’ve been in the background for a long time, but now they are at the forefront—in some cases, they are being harassed,” Hanmer said. “The lack of trust in our institutions is a big issue, and we’re figuring out ways to deal with that and address it. It’s important to work in nonpartisan ways to protect our democracy.”

This article originally appeared in the college's 2024 'Be the Solution' magazine. The main photo is from iStock. The photo of Mike Hanmer and Sam Novey is by Kevin Roach.

Published on Tue, Jul 16, 2024 - 10:44AM