Lessons from Other Democracies: Ideas for Combatting Mistrust and Polarization in US Elections

However, far too many Americans continue to harbor mistaken beliefs about the prevalence of widespread fraud and miscounted votes, as well as concerns about the ability of election officials to administer future elections fairly. Malign actors—both foreign and domestic—are taking advantage of and reinforcing these trends to serve their varied interests, including geopolitical advantage and monetary gain.

These problems are exacerbated by the political polarization that is increasingly dominating life in the United States. Fault lines that once cut across political party affiliation now align with the divide between the Republican and Democratic parties. Increasingly, many Americans seem to find themselves in two warring camps, opposing the other side on virtually every issue of social and political importance, with elections serving as an almost existential battleground.

While elections in other democracies are also stressed by hardening divisions among political parties, the impact of polarization is greater in the United States because policymaking under the US Constitution is so dependent on self-enforced norms, compromise, and cross-party cooperation. The United States needs to think creatively about how best to address two potent and interconnected problems: first, the impact of our virulent polarization on election management and our democracy, more broadly; and second, the trust-destroying propagation of election related mis- and disinformation. False information is thriving because of our polarization.

There is also the challenge of knowing if information is true, which in our real-time information environment is often difficult. When mis- and disinformation is mentioned in this paper, we are referring to verifiable election mis- and disinformation, such as the wrong date for Election Day or the spread of a verifiably doctored and false video used to claim fraud. This topic is difficult to navigate in a polarized environment, but that makes it even more important that we continue to share ideas on how to build trust in the information space.

These are problems that would benefit from new ideas, including ideas that come from a source the United States often overlooks: what is working in other democracies. Democracies can and do learn from each other about how to respond to threats, and how to design rules and systems that increase trust and help find common ground. Our history demonstrates this: the United States adopted the secret ballot from Australia, and many countries learned how to constitutionally establish basic freedoms from the US Bill of Rights.

Adopting best practices from other countries is an opportunity to buttress policies and procedures that make US elections free and fair and draw inspiration from others facing the same challenges. With its decentralized election system and state “laboratories of democracy,” the United States is well suited for incremental, location-specific adaptation of new ideas.

This report provides examples of strategies that draw inspiration from systems and programs in place in other countries, including some which are already gaining traction in the United States. We divide these strategies into two categories: minimizing the impact of polarization and combatting election mis- and disinformation. The ideas in this paper will not work for every jurisdiction in the United States, but more states and localities should consider them as they seek to effectively counter polarization and election-related information manipulation.

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Looking Ahead to 2024 and Beyond
Just as no two states are exactly alike, there is no single way to ensure free and fair elections. But there are many steps and strategies that can help achieve that goal. As the 2024 US presidential election draws nearer, the threats to elections may continue to intensify. Russia and China’s strategies of interference in democracies are evolving. Some state legislatures consumed by false claims of widespread election fraud continue to undermine public faith in electoral processes and pursue changes that consolidate electoral powers in partisan hands. Elected officials and candidates continue to inspire misguided efforts to interfere in the administration of elections. And advancements in digital technology are making malign information cheaper, easier to produce, and harder to discern, while the proliferation of alternative social media sites has made false narratives ever more intractable.

While no country is immune to these threats, many countries have found approaches that mitigate some aspects of polarization and information manipulation. It is important to learn from them as we evaluate how new ideas can work to enhance trust in the US election system.

Regardless of the reason, lingering mistrust in US elections and a general sense that democracy is not working for the political middle justifies rethinking our approach to protecting our elections, and our democracy, more broadly. A voting system in which the candidate with the most votes wins even if that candidate is not supported by the majority is a system that rewards polarization. Approaches to election administration and district drawing that allow significant political party control intensify the impact of polarization.

Admittedly, many of the strategies, policies, and ideas discussed above require funding, something which is inconsistent across the states and unreliable on the federal level. In order to support state and local election jurisdictions where they need it most, the United States must devise a way to appropriately and consistently fund elections.

The reform ideas discussed here are a diversified mix of short and long-term proposals that could simultaneously help address US democracy’s most immediate needs, such as better communications strategies and threat information, and more distant concerns, like improving the match between voter preferences and electoral outcomes. While it is tempting to focus all efforts on 2024, it is just as important to keep long-term objectives in mind. When it comes to strengthening and improving US democracy, we should heed the words of Benjamin Franklin who said that “by failing to plan, you are planning to fail”. Now is the time to plan and, for states especially, to experiment with ideas to improve the US system.

This is a unique moment in US history, one in which there is an openness to new ideas on how to best run our elections and support democracy. These ideas focus on changing incentives to encourage trust, mutual respect, and a willingness to work together, resources essential to our form of government. Politics and political considerations must, of course, be taken into consideration as reforms are advanced, but the innovations discussed here benefit our democratic republic, not Republicans or Democrats. We must be open to new ideas that can strengthen US democracy, learn from our allies and other democracies, and ensure that the United States can tackle the next generation of challenges.