Data for Democracy
Center for New Data supports a thriving democracy by bringing advanced data science to non-partisan civic organizations that support voting rights.
The Voting Access Monitor
The Voting Access Monitor empowers civic partners to report on and advocate for the rights of voters to access their polling locations with ease, cast their vote and participate in our democracy. For the first time, Center for New Data partners can visualize data on polling locations in parallel with key equity indicators.
What we do
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Voting Access Monitor
Our partners can access dynamic data visualizations that illustrate disparities in access to polling locations across the US. These visualizations help support voting rights advocates and attorneys fighting to improve voting for registered voters in underrepresented communities.
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Voting Access Reports
Center for New Data can provide the analysis and data points needed to support advocacy letters and conversations from the county to the state level. Our data set can also be leveraged to create customized reports to explore inequities and answer specific partner questions.
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Voting Access Data
Partner organizations can request direct access to Center for New Data’s database for their data team to conduct deeper analysis.
Stronger digital infrastructure for the voter journey
Center for New Data is contributing to the electoral digital infrastructure by producing reputable analytics on voting rights. Our solutions focus on the voter journey to the poll, tracking access to polling locations over time.
We partner with civic, media and academic organizations to prevent and correct disparities in access to polls.
Today, voter registration rates are at an all-time high
But as more and more voter suppression bills are adopted throughout the country, voters report that access to polls is increasingly challenging.
Polling locations often close down or move. As a result, voters may have to travel long distances, wait in line for hours and, in some cases, are unable to cast their vote.
Building upon the legal foundation of democracy
The 1965 Voting Rights Act, the 1993 National Voter Registration Act and, more recently, the creation of a robust digital infrastructure supporting online voter registration have all been instrumental in enabling all Americans to participate in our democracy.
We provide a quantitative evidence base to help safeguard this important legacy.
Democracy powered by AI
It is essential that we monitor the challenges that AI can bring to our democracy, such as AI-based manipulation that could influence election outcomes. We are also called to explore the tremendous opportunities for AI to drive the development of new tools and insights that can protect voting rights. Center for New Data is actively deploying AI tools to leverage disaggregated, broad community level data to protect voting rights in our current election period. We are learning from partners and co-designing AI tools to improve data coordination, analysis, and evidence-based action.