STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
You often hear politicians in the United States describe America like this.
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VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world.
INSKEEP: That is Vice President Harris, who hopes to lead that democracy after November's presidential election, which is competitive, but can it really be the greatest democracy when almost two-thirds of other elections last year featured just one candidate? That's what a group called BallotReady found. It is a nonpartisan organization that helps people find out how to vote. And its CEO is Alex Niemczewski, who's in our studios. Thanks for coming by.
ALEX NIEMCZEWSKI: Thank you for having me.
INSKEEP: I've heard this before. I know it applies to, like, congressional races, right? Like, most congressional races are unopposed or effectively unopposed.
NIEMCZEWSKI: Yes. But it gets a lot worse further down the ballot. So we have seen in our data shows that regional races, which are mostly legal offices like district attorney, judges, sheriffs, that last year was - 85% of those were unopposed.
INSKEEP: Wow. Is there a specific city that comes to mind or a specific kind of office that's even worse?
NIEMCZEWSKI: Well, I started BallotReady in Chicago, and part of why I started it was because on my ballot, there were all these judges that were running unopposed, and I didn't have a choice. There's only one on the ballot in each race.
INSKEEP: That is really disturbing. First, because it's hard to know how you would even vote on a judge. Like, how do I evaluate the person's record? But second, even if I go to the trouble, what difference does it make?
NIEMCZEWSKI: Exactly.
INSKEEP: Why is this happening?
NIEMCZEWSKI: There's this huge information gap that we have. And you may have experienced this yourself. You might be very ready to vote for president when you show up to vote, but then you get there, and you realize there are all these other offices on the ballot. And some of these offices are offices that people don't really know what their responsibilities are, like water reclamation commissioner. And this trickles down to people not understanding that they can run for office.
INSKEEP: I'm trying to think about some of the different roadblocks here. And since I'm in the media, the first thing that comes to mind is the decline of local news. But it's just really hard to even know what's going on in your community, much less who's doing what in the government.
NIEMCZEWSKI: It's a big problem, and it's part of the reason I started BallotReady and the reason we exist just to let people know about what will be on their ballot and who represents them so they can start building that civic knowledge.
INSKEEP: I wonder if there is a trend with one particular type of person, someone who says, hey, I just realized that I could run for county clerk or county recorder, some such office because they will have a role in counting the votes in the presidential election.
NIEMCZEWSKI: Unfortunately, there are a lot of uncontested races this fall, like state Supreme Court races that are uncontested that will have power over how the election is decided. It does feel really scary (laughter).
INSKEEP: I can feel that in your voice as we're talking here.
NIEMCZEWSKI: Yeah.
INSKEEP: Now, with that said, we are at a reasonably advanced point of the election season where it's probably too late to get on anybody's ballot. What would you encourage people to do if they're listening to you and in some way inspired right now?
NIEMCZEWSKI: Well, there are over a hundred thousand offices up for election in 2025 next year. There are organizations that are increasingly supporting candidates who run for local offices. But also, look up who represents you so you can get to know those people - get a better understanding of what they do in your community.
INSKEEP: Alex Niemczewski of BallotReady. Thanks so much for coming by.
NIEMCZEWSKI: Thank you for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF BURGUESS' BEATZ'S "CATWALK") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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