Election Reflections
During this Election, voters across the nation were able to access accurate and clear voting information thanks in part to the hard work of the unit members of the Democracy Workers Collective. This year, as the engineers, researchers, user support specialists, partnership managers, data associates, writers, designers, product managers et al that make Democracy Works work, union members accomplished a lot to help voters:
Provided guidance for thousands of elections before and after the November General Election
Bridged the gap between state officials and tech platforms like Google, TikTok, and more
Synthesized information on the post-election experience, including how to check the status of a ballot, how to cure a ballot, how and when elections are certified, what election audits are, and explanations of the Electoral College
Improved our data and product offerings, launching dozens of major features including:
Ballot information with summaries to help people see what was at stake
2.0 API to provide elections and authorities information, powering TikTok’s election hub and self-publishing polling location data for the first time
Integrations with emerging AI platforms like Anthropic and Perplexity to combat election misinformation
Sent election reminders to approximately 9 million voters, and answered voting questions for almost 50,000 voters
Diligently monitored updates to polling hours and locations due to lawsuits, power outages, natural disasters, technical issues, etc.
Our unit members sprinted the last mile of this marathon to deliver voter tools & deliver our largest impact. All told, we can breathe a collective sigh of relief that we made it through the biggest day of our work in 2024 and helped countless Americans around the United States cast their ballots.
Throughout this election season, the Democracy Workers Collective has been true to its principles: regardless of the political climate surrounding the outcome of the election, we consistently worked to help voters exercise their rights. We’ve also remained consistent in our bargaining asks–we want fair and equitable wages, pathways to career growth, reasonable cost of living adjustments, and reasonable promotion raises.
Democracy Works can ensure that its work stays relevant by agreeing to a fair contract to protect its workers. Our work isn’t over–we continue to provide extensive coverage of runoffs, midterms, and local elections, and it’s even more critical to help keep people engaged beyond this election. The organization must commit to supporting workers to stay here so we can continue the important work that’s integral to Democracy Work’s mission.
