Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy

by David Daley

A revelatory account by the best- selling author of Ratf**ked that will give you hope that America’s fragile democracy can still be saved. Following Ratf**ked , his “extraordinary timely and undeniably important” ( New York Times Book Review ) exposé of how a small cadre of Republican operatives rigged American elections, David Daley emerged as one of the nation’s leading authorities on gerrymandering. In Unrigged , he charts a vibrant political movement that is rising in the wake of his and other reporters’ revelations. With his trademark journalistic rigor and narrative flair, Daley reports on Pennsylvania’s dramatic defeat of a gerrymander using the research of ingenious mathematicians and the Michigan millennial who launched a statewide redistricting revolution with a Facebook post. He tells the stories of activist groups that paved the way for 2018’s historic blue wave and won crucial battles for voting rights in Florida, Maine, Utah, and nationwide. In an age of polarization, Unrigged offers a vivid portrait of a nation transformed by a new civic awakening, and provides a blueprint for what must be done to keep American democracy afloat.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Society, The United States Of America, Audiobook

320 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2020

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Daley wants us to feel good about ordinary citizen attempts to push back on states and national political parties for constraining our voting rights, documented in so many states across our Union.

But in doing so he also shows us how the fight in many states has become more and more bitterly partisan, particularly when savvy grassroots organizing leads to galvanizing wins…and then to resurgent attempts by a weakened party apparatus to find legal grounds to reject the changes sought, reneging on promises made.

A win in this climate is not really a win. It is a way station on a mountain path, a peak not yet crested. Perhaps that is the lesson of this endeavor: we never arrive but must fight for our democracy every. single. day.

Daley has an entertaining style that distracts little from technical, tactical battles being fought in each state. New Voter ID requirements, hurdles to ballot initiatives, restrictions on voter registration or absentee balloting, egregious gerrymandering: these are the things voters around America are worked up about, and fighting against.

Each state has different objective conditions, but in each it appears that the popular resistance is fighting a statewide battle while legislators seeking to preserve their position are receiving instructions and money from their national party. The fight is unequal in funding and reach but also unequal in ingenuity and persistence. It is heartening to see that better funding is not always the sign of a winning hand.

The gerrymandering battle fought in deep-Red Utah resulted in a win for the ballot initiative in 2018 but in 2020 the legislature forced Better Boundaries, Utah’s anti-gerrymandering group, to accept a compromise solution that allows incumbent information to be used when creating maps, and instituting the requirement that legislators do not have to accept proposed maps. This shows the weakness of ballot initiatives. They are easier to pass…and easier to repeal.

In Michigan the redistricting reform petition led by a youthful reformer profiled in the recently released documentary Slay the Dragon got onto the ballot in 2018 and passed with some 61% of the vote. Since then however, the Republican-dominated legislature first tried to defund the commission and then filed in federal court declaring the commission unconstitutional. A call went out early 2020, nonetheless, to all eligible voters in Michigan to apply to become a part of the new redistricting commission. As of this writing in April 2020, over 6,000 citizens have responded to the call to establish a 13-member commission. Applications close in July.

Daley shows us that “when voters are given a choice, fairness wins…more than a three-quarters of the congressional seats that changed hands in 2018 were drawn by either commissions or courts. Fairer districts led not only to more competitive races, but also to election results that were responsive to a shift in public opinion.”

Missouri voters initiated a constitutional amendment mandating fair maps and the state legislature immediately proposed an amendment to disarm the citizens’ initiative. New commission requirements adopted in Ohio continue to give a role to legislators, and to require a role for judiciary if commissioners cannot agree.

At the risk of sounding despairing, I will note that I am a member of the rebellion…in Pennsylvania…to end partisan gerrymandering. We were in the last four months of an accelerating squeeze on the state legislature to pass legislation that will allow us to create an independent redistricting commission based on the California model: eleven commissioners randomly-selected from a vetted pool of regular PA citizenry. The corona virus stopped us cold.

Daley mentions Pennsylvania among his descriptions of states fighting back against legislative overreach, describing the astounding win handed to anti-gerrymandering forces by the State Supreme Court in 2018 who ruled that the 2010 congressional maps and the remedial fix were badly skewed to protect ruling party interests in the state. A special master from out-of-state drew new maps used in the 2018 election for congressional districts, leveling the playing field a little. The fix was temporary and left legislators free to do it all again in 2021.

The fight for fairer state legislative district maps continues in Pennsylvania and that is where we left it in early March when corona came calling. At least now we have time to look around at the changes elsewhere and see where we stand. Zachary Roth of the Brennan Center thinks states are winning the fight against gerrymandering, and I want it to be true. It is a never-ending battle, and we need all those who value liberty to stand with us and demand protection for our rights.

The end of Daley’s book leaves all of us reformers across the country in the same unsettled place. Daley interviews conservative, former Republican writers and pundits and comes to the conclusion that the party is so changed and susceptible to authoritarianism that it may not survive its own evolution. Our democracy probably won’t survive their evolution, either.

[Chhavi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read two pages of this one sided anti-Trump, anti-Republican and anti-conservative garbage propaganda. The double standards and hypocrisy of the Democrats and liberals is so evident in this steaming pile. I am going to keep the book handy though. With the shortage of toilet paper these days, I know when I run out of toilet paper at home, I can put this book to good use.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Infuriating to read about how entrenched powers seek to undermine citizens' desires (and democracy in general) for their purposes, but encouraging to learn about the individuals and groups working to undo those efforts.

[Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The word "gerrymandering," Daley warns, "reminds people of falling asleep in high school civics...you could easily imagine marketing an insomnia cure under that brand name." But no no no. Gerrymandering is really super interesting. It is the means by which political party gatekeepers decide the boundaries of the community in which you live, which is never ever ever the geographical community you believe or would guess you belong to, and that is how you get political representation. They pick boundaries that will get them elected to office. You might feel that you have the local representation you want, but maybe the "other party" has deliberately sacrificed their power in your district in exchange for shoring up power in another district — in which case, on the whole, you're being used. That's what's going on. It's a kind of villainy, no? When Americans understand it, they get up set and mobilize to fix it.

This book talks about other hindrances to voting in the United States: Some states take away voting rights from felons and don't educate them about when they can vote again nor otherwise facilitate their voter registration. To vote in some states, you need forms of ID that some Americans don't have. The mere existence of a "voter registration" process (not a universal phenomenon among nations) creates opportunities for the system to disenfranchise and punish people. Then there was Thomas Hofeller's project to redistrict states based on their citizen voting age populations, even though the nation's "foundational theory, at the heart of the Constitution," is "that a representative's job is to represent all the people, not just adult voters."

Also, U.S. history I'd never heard: In 1879, in Maine, a three-way governor's race ended up in the courts, and "Republicans, led by U.S. Senator James Blaine, gathered armed forces across from the state capitol," while the incumbent Democrat "Garcelon's troops took up positions to defend the building," and a military general needed two weeks to calm everyone down!

If you like "geeking out" over election math and how political campaigns "play the game," you will find extra reasons to appreciate this book.

[Aehavs · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of stories from across the U.S. accounting for how citizens, with and without political expertise, are banding together to fight the political establishment head on — in snow, over mountains, across states, and through fire.

[Rachel Havrilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must read for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the constant insane headlines. Its also a good reminder that this coup didn't happen overnight and neither will the resistance.

[Sansriti · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When voters are given a choice, fairness wins. Perhaps that’s why they’re not often given the option. Voters have to wrestle away a better future, themselves.”

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

The War on something, battling, big words that only mark an entitled brat who in his, or her, mind is fighting the Nazi in the Ardennes.

[Ben Deutsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up David Daley’s second book because…well, Daley and I have been working on pretty similar things the past few years. His first book, Ratf**ked tells the story of the GOP’s wide-reaching plot to manipulate the country’s political maps during the 2011 redistricting process. Since I started working with the NDRC in 2017, our organization has been focused on reversing the damage done to our democracy by the backroom deals detailed in Ratf**ked. His first book is part of my daily lexicon and has been a galvanizing work for me and my colleagues as we do our part to help in the fight to restore our democracy that Daley tells in Unrigged.

In the book, he chronicles the lengths that everyday citizens have gone through to fight back against a conservative minority hellbent on holding on to its illegitimate power. These activists come in all forms — from a former felon in Florida who built a grassroots movement from scratch to restore voting rights for Floridians just like him to mathematicians who know the numbers on gerrymandered maps just don't add up and have aided litigation that can often be the remedy that leads to fair representation. If we must bend the arc toward justice, these are the stories of the Americans bending it. It’s an uplifting story of those citizens, but also a stark reminder of how desperate Republicans are to roll back progress — going as far as manipulating the rules for citizen-led ballot initiatives to block them from reaching the ballot and attempting to repeal them once they pass. The book is a comprehensive view of how tall the order will be to resist the last gasp of a decaying power structure in our country — but also how the determined efforts of a few patriots have already helped restore justice an

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot in this book that can lead to optimism, the work of ordinary citizens in areas such as gerrymandering, protecting the vote, general participation in the work of democracy. There's a lot that can lead to pessimism; legislatures doing everything within their power to overturn or minimize the work of citizens, the entrenched ideology in so many facets of political life and government. I'd like to think that "we the people" have more power than those who run political parties, media, the business of government but I'm not sure. But pessimism does not pay off in the end, so I will follow the advice "Democrary requires tending and defending, sometimes against long odds, and yes, sometimes against our own leaders who would right the system to benefit their side." pg. 238.

[Jonathan Cervas · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to read an inspiring book about how regular people can have positive effects on political outcomes, Daley delivers in multitudes.

[Paul Froehlich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fans of gerrymandering -- when their party does it -- will detest this book. That's because Unrigged describes in detail how pols picking their voters has been stopped in several states. Despite the Supreme Court's refusal to address this blight on democracy, the reformers are on the march.

David Daley describes campaigns that won against tall odds in 2018. Fifteen of 16 initiatives and constitutional amendments to enhance democracy passed in 2018.

This wave of reform was a reaction to minority rule in gerrymandered states where the party with fewer popular votes nonetheless kept control of the legislaures and a majority of the congressional delegations, such as the 13-5 advantage in blue-leaning Pennsylvania.

Initiatives to provide for nonpartisan maps won in Michigan, Colorado, Ohio Missouri and even in crimson Utah.

Gerrymandering is just one anti-democratic practice Americans have to overcome. Another is the lifetime ban on voting by ex-offenders. These bans spread in the South after the Civil War as a way to curb the blacks vote.

Alabama's notorious ban ended in 2017 due to litigation. In Florida, where 1.67 million people were prohibited from voting, it took a statewide initiative. The campaign appealed to the bipartisan view that people deserve a second chance, that redemption is possible after a person pays his debt to society. The proposition passed with nearly two-thirds of the vote.

A fascinating chapter is devoted to Kris Kobach, the former Kansas Secretary of State, who is the person most associated with strict voter ID laws. In 2016, Kobach told Donald Trump that millions of fraudulent votes had been cast against him. Trump appointed Kobach along with Mike Pence as co-chairs of a presidential commission to expose the purported fraud.

The commission crashed and burned within months without uncovering the massive fraud Kobach alleges. Trump quickly dissolved his commission after a federal judge ordered the commission to operate transparently as required by law. The discredited Kobach subsequently lost his election for governor to a Democrat in 2018. He is currently running for the US Senate.

The contention about widespread fraud is used to justify restrictive voter ID laws. Immediately after the SCOTUS emasculated the Voting Rights Act in the 2013 Shelby case, southern states and others controlled by the GOP adopted new requirements making it harder to vote.

It was shocking to read about the election laws and policies in North Dakota and Utah that remind the reader of Jim Crow, except the victims are native Americans and the discrimination is happening today, not decades ago.

In addition to a ban on gerrymandering, another way to enhance democracy is to give voters a more flexible way to cast votes. In 2010, Paul LePage, a Tea Party candidate for governor in Maine, won with just 37.6% of the vote. In 2016, Maine voters adopted ranked choice voting, also known as Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), which ensures the winner has majority support. IRV empowers voters facing more than two candidates for an office to rank them in order of preference, instead of voting for one. The winner needs support from the majority of voters, as either their first or second choice.

This system eliminates both expensive runoff elections as well as spoilers, which is what third party candidates sometimes become with traditional voting where the candidate with the most votes wins, even if it's with 37.6 percent. Ranked choice voting also reduces campaign mudslinging because candidates know that to win, they may need to be the second choice of their opponents' supporters.

IRV is also used in several cities and in a number of countries. Of course conservatives don't like it, and tried to kill it in Maine. Voters had to approve IRV a second time to overcome the opposition.

Trump's attack on voting by mail is the latest battle over making it easier or harder to vote. Fraud is the excuse, not the reason, for policies making it less convenient to vote for Native Americans, college students and poor people. David Daly gives credit -- and blame -- where it's due.

Though this book has more detail than most readers may want, Unrigged nonetheless is an entertaining read.
The spirit of democracy is that we the people can fix problems. This book embodies that spirit and provides inspiration that our political system can be reformed to make it more democratic.

Daley and other democracy activists want to build on the 2018 momentum in 2020. Since the USA has one of the world's lowest voting rates, policies should promote participation, not make it harder. ###

[Bryan Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

A striking contrast in tone to Daley's previous book, "Ratfucked" which was a depressingly comprehensive elucidation of the inequalities and injustices baked into (and politically-reinforced) our electoral system. In "Unrigged", Daley discusses the various ways in which grassroots movements all around the country have managed, and continue to fight, to undo the imbalances created by rampant gerrymandering and restrictive voter laws.

It's interesting and refreshing to read this book after reading "Ratfucked", but as Daley points out in the conclusion to this book, the small gains towards equality and transparency that have been achieved are tenuous and in constant need of protection and reinforcement. Backsliding is a very real possibility, and the future of the country as as democratic nation is not at all a foregone conclusion.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his book, Unrigged, David Daley skillfully employs an eclectic cast of characters to illustrate How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy. It should come as no surprise that most of his characters are under 40, and many are in their twenties. But there are also the "bad-ass grandmas" who pivoted from coffee klatch to activists and successfully pushed through a state constitutional amendment that created a state ethics board, banned foreign money from campaigns, and ended the elected official to lobbyist career path." All these determined citizens have come nose to glass against some disenfranchising procedure or legislative regulation that impedes their ability to vote or the impact of their vote, or flat out overrides their vote. Using data to ferret out other disenfranchised citizens, these citizens reversed the "my vote won't make a difference" mantra to a "Fuck yeah, we deserve to vote," or "Fuck you for thinking you can push me aside" attitude.

Generally the battles center on the impediments that have undermined the most fundamental concept of America's long lasting Democracy—one person; one vote.

Gerrymandering: Redistricting, which happens every ten years, has quietly rigged the system to cluster all voters of a certain party into a few districts that are assured of electing their favored representatives by overwhelming majorities, while the other party spreads out it's voters into many far flung districts to increase the number of their elected representatives who win by much smaller margins, yet build that party's winning legislative might. Clever and determined activists have discovered that "when transparent, accessible, and easy-to-use online mapping tools are provided to ordinary citizens, then voters rather than politicians can determine districts based on holding communities together rather than chunking them into unfathomable fingers and islands." And when politicians need to work for their votes, they are more likely to listen to the needs of their constituents rather than overriding them because they can get away with it and still win the next election.

Voters' Rights: "When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law in July 1965, he proclaimed that 'the right to vote is the basic right, without which all others are meaningless.'" Since his proclamation, a certain set of legislatures has been hell bent on circumventing the law. There are so many impediments to voting in some states, it boggles the mind. Photo ID laws, abolishing same-day registration, demanding annual registration, proof of residence restrictions which often translate into poll taxes by requiring voters to purchase unnecessary and unaffordable driver's licenses.

The Way We Vote: The physical impediments include lack of viable polling places which creates long lines to cast a vote, tinkering with polling times, restrictions on absentee voting, early voting, and vote-by-mail. But there is also that bedeviling majority wins all issue, which causes voters to have to choose one person to vote for, often selecting the least bad alternative who has a chance of winning. The alternative? Ranked choice voting, which the current majority party runs from like floodwaters from hell were on their heels.

It is clear that our system is not working. Citizens doubt the effect of their votes and even the validity of the voting process. They recognize that they are being muzzled, especially if they have brown skin or worship in a way that threatens the white, male, middle class who run the country. But demographics are changing. This country is no longer populated by a majority of white, middle class males. If everyone's voting power is not equal, we have huge blocks of people who are disenfranchised, whose needs are not being met.

By making it harder to vote, what do we, as a nation accomplish? What are we afraid of? Why would anyone not want every possible citizen to vote for their leaders and representatives? Who does a smaller pool of voters benefit and why? And why is one party so afraid to let the other party have a voice? Do Americans really want to live in a society where only one voice is allowed at the table? And, by the way, that voice, by dint of election laws, represents a minority of the people being governed?

Daley shows us viable ways to work within the system, to fight fire with fire, and to unrig a rigged system.

[Carla Bayha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun fact: President Trump may have committed felony voter fraud in Florida, when he initially listed his residence as 1600 Pennsylvania on his voter registration. Felons in some states lose their right to vote--forever!-- and needless to say, the law is applied unequally by race. In a state by state and tactic by tactic review, Daley shows how state legislatures and county governments have tried to suppress voting by voters they believe will not vote for their party. From the petty (not letting college students vote in the state where they go to college-without a car- if they don't change their driver's license address) to the venal--giving Native Americans only three hours a month in which they can register to vote in a building hours from their residence, and only if they have a street address (which few do)-- the will of incumbents to keep their personal entitlements knows no bounds. Cue the fair voting activists, like Katie Fahey in Michigan with her "Voters Not Politicians" drive, mathematicians using Monte Carlo simulations in court to disprove the fairness of gerrymandered districts, and Stephanie Hofeller who handed over to Common Cause, evidence that her father had enabled a generation of suppressive voter ID laws in the name of non existent voter fraud. An inspiring and suspenseful story of claiming democracy for all, and the playbook for the change we all need.

[George Crowder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book. The bulk of it consists of accounts of individuals and small groups who have come together to try to overcome the efforts of the Republican party to gerrymander congressional districts and promote voter suppression legislation. This is inspirational and surprising--for the groups, according to the author, have bipartisan support. Hard to believe in these times of hyperpartisanship and winning by any means possible. And indeed, the final chapter suggests a substantially different story, as the politicians use every trick to fight off the will of the people and maintain a rigged system. I particularly enjoyed the interviews with George Will, Bill Kristol, and Norm Ornstein, who had substantially different takes on the likelihood of getting past this era of bad feelings. Sadly, I find myself in agreement with Ornstein that it's not likely to pass soon. At every turn, the behavior of the hard right wing has surprised and shocked me at their willingness to rally behind blatant lies, racism, fascism, and propaganda. And there's an enormous infrastructure to support them in their efforts.

[Stephen Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fundamental question of this book is important—what happens to a representational democracy when one party manifests an apparent or actual lack of commitment to the fundamental notion that everyone must be represented equally? Intent is important, but results are too. And what this book documents in terms of voting rights legislation and partisan gerrymandering will result in an electorate that is less diverse and more conservative, failing to adequately mirror the changes in our national demographic. Regardless of intent, this seems bad. But the responses of grassroots campaigns to fight these measures, which he also documents so well, provides hope for the future.

If I could give half a star, this book would be rated at 3.5 vice 4. I make these deductions because of the clear partisan bias of the author who, to his credit, doesn’t even attempt to hide how he feels. A more circumspect approach might go further in supporting one of his conclusions, that in order to preserve democracy party and identity can and should be distinct. But that approach won’t likely sell books.

Nevertheless because his message is so stark and so important I chose to “round up.”

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audience: Americans angry with the political system, political activists
Style: One unique story per chapter of American political activists.
Impressions: 1.) Gerrymandering is messed up! 2.) State legislators are power-hungry and unchecked. 3.) Everyday Americans can and ARE making a difference.
Memorable Quote: "It was rejuvenating to ride alongside those who turned off cable news, logged off Twitter and got to work."

Overview
A well written book that stiches together many individual stories in to an overarching theme of the fight for Democracy. The major battle lines are drawn in gerrymandering, voter rights and ballot initiatives. The book provides inspirational personal stories of ordinary Americans who pressed tirelessly against entrenched politicians and outside interests to make hard-fought gains. It leaves the reader questioning "How can I get off the sidelines and be a part of the change in civics that America yearns for?"

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great antidote to Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy. This book is a series of uplifting, inspiring stories about how different organizations and s/heroes are working to unrig a system that has been systematically made unequal.
More Americans should be reading this book—it's a great paradigm-shifting read. Let's shift the conversation from polarized parties and problematic personalities to greater enfranchisement, mathematically driven redistricting, and rank-choice voting. These are the solutions.
Must read! - Only giving 4 stars instead of 5 because the writing itself drug a bit at times for me.

[Brett Van Gaasbeek · Rating 4 out of 5]

To believe that the practice of gerrymandering is still a standard operating procedure in some states in 2020 is astounding, as it always seems to be a 19th century concept. Daley brings the issues of voter suppression, voter ID laws, and the practice of gerrymandering into painfully clear light and is very intriguing as a story-teller at the same time. This book reads similar to the titles that Michael Lewis has written about politics and economics over the years. This government teacher both enjoyed reading this book and became angry at the abuses of democracy present in the US. Very solid read.

[Denny Troncoso · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed reading this book. As a concerned citizen about American Democracy and activist trying to make positive change happen this book gives a bit of hope. As a moderate the book does lean left with certain politics, however, I believe in most of what the author discusses and recommends for the country. We need to increase access to voting not suppress it which is what the Republican party is doing in many areas of the country. We need to stop partisan gerrymandering which both Democrats and Republicans do, but Republicans have pushed the practice to its limits in the 2010 elections. This book is both a breadth of fresh air and a roadmap for future action.

[Jenna Spinelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amid many other books that proclaim the end of democracy as we know it, this book is a breath of fresh air and a reminder that citizens have agency to create the systems we want to see. David Daley's reporting on redistricting is important to consider as the process begins again this year.

I had the chance to talk with Dave about how things will look different in 2021 than they did in 2011, and how the grassroots organizers he writes about in the book might need to go on the defensive this year. Hear the interview at: https://democracyworks.simplecast.com...

[Jane Boon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important book about a critical topic. We are seeing the consequences of how the right has spent decades tweaking the system to their favor (from gerrymandering, to voting "rights", to campaign finance, etc) and Daley is persuasive in his description of the essential work necessary to undo this damage. While the news may make my blood boil, I found this book soothing, as it explained how to fix things and the battle ahead.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was eye-opening, shocking and encouraging. I liked David Daley's style; it read more like fiction but at the same time he presented and analyzed some complex ideas. It gave me a lot to think about. Together with Our Time is Now by Stacy Abrams, it has made me very aware of gerrymandering and voter suppression. I was somewhat aware previously but did not realize just how institutionalized these have become. I was motivation to join the local League of Women Voters.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as Ratf**cked, but that was a very good book. In this book,
Daley is attempting to give a more positive spin to what is, regrettably, not a very positive situation, in describing the numerous grassroots efforts to reclaim democracy in this country. There wasn’t too much new in it for me, but then I am a political junkie and I follow this stuff.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as a earth-shattered as Ratfucked was, Daley paints the battle for the vote in an optimistic light by drawing on the victories and hard work of activists primarily in the 2018 election. This came out as a primer to the 2020 election, so it does not include the hellhole we'll fallen into since then.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another spot-on book by Dave Daley. I read this just before the 2022 Midterms, and I was so afraid that some of the more positive aspects of the book would pale after a dismal midterm result ... but thank heavens, that midterm turned out to be a reflection of all the work people have done towards voter registration and working hard to make this one as fair an election as possible.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An upbeat reminder that we are the saviors we are waiting for. Ordinary people step up to fight gerrymandering and other anti-democratic anti-voting legislation. Really important info with the election next year. Read with Tyranny of the Minority for a complete picture of the many ways right wing extremists are attempting to take power

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy it for any friend (ANY! Red or Blue!) who wants to hear some good news about America. Daley's book works as a sort of elixir in these times of Trumpble. Gerrymandering, ranked voting, voting rights, voter-led initiatives. There's plenty of hope out there. Just find it.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just wasn’t to my taste. But it is important to remember that there people are ALWAYS fighting to maintain our freedoms, to allow democracy to continue trucking. So, this was a good reminder of that. It was also a nice insight to see the who & the how of it.