Fixing uncontested elections: How data & local races shape the future of Democracy

There’s no such thing as an off year in politics, and per BallotReady, over 100,000 offices are up for election in 2025 – significantly more than the 80,000 up for election in November 2024. Those offices include city councils, mayors, school boards, township boards, and more – with some elections happening as early as February.

Unfortunately, many of those elections will continue an alarming trend in American politics, because according to a study by BallotReady’s analysis, between 60% and 70% will go uncontested – meaning voters will only have one listed candidate to choose from.

Some more sobering statistics from BallotReady’s analysis of elections from 2020-2023:
🗳️ County-level offices go uncontested 58% of the time in counties with a population over 100,000, and 81% of the time in counties with fewer than 100,000 people.
🗳️ Over 91% of district attorney positions and 85% of district and circuit court judicial positions went uncontested in 2022.

The implications here are alarming. For a significant majority of elected offices in the United States, voters effectively have no real choice in who represents them. That problem is even more pronounced in less populous – often rural – areas, and especially with offices tied to the justice system. 

Join BallotReady and NationBuilder for an insightful discussion on why this problem persists and what we can do to address it.

Meet Our Experts:
📈 David Spearman, Senior Director of Data Strategy at BallotReady: leveraging data and technology to increase access to democracy. David oversees data product development and data governance at BallotReady to ensure users and partners have the information they need to make informed decisions.
🗳️ Jay Godfrey, VP of Customer Success at NationBuilder: political wonk and deep believer in advancing the cause of democracy and civic participation. In his work at NationBuilder, Jay leads the teams that support thousands of leaders around the world, ranging from local political campaigns to global nonprofits and businesses.

Learn from global examples and discover actionable steps to make the 2024 election more competitive and representative. Watch now to help shape a stronger democracy! 🗳️

00:00 - Meet your hosts, Jay & David
1:42 - NationBuilder overview
5:53 - BallotReady Overview
8:16 - Uncontested races analysis
11:01 - Trends in the data
15:03 - Seats up for election in 2025
16:18 - Democracy lessons across the globe
17:40 - Kitchen table discussions
23:07 - Unions organize to build manifesto
26:52 - Key takeaways
28:49 - Q & A begins
29:06 - How are electoral systems changing?
32:40 - How does that impact 2024 elections?
36:53 - How do organizations participate in elections?
40:20 - What data shocked you the most?
42:45 - What advocacy actions do people want to take?
44:55 - How do we make running for office, accessible?
48:11 - Why should you get out the vote?
50:45 - Closing thoughts