Convened by Living Room Conversations, Civity, Interfaith America, the National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD), AllSides, NCDD,
and a growing network of civic leaders
A collaborative effort to strengthen trust in elections through education, dialogue, and community connection.
and a growing network of civic leaders
A collaborative effort to strengthen trust in elections through education, dialogue, and community connection.
About the Initiative
Public trust is built through transparency, relationships, shared learning, and meaningful engagement. The Trustworthy Elections Initiative is rooted in the belief that local trust can help rebuild national trust. By helping community members understand election processes and connect with one another, communities can strengthen confidence in elections while fostering healthier civic relationships.
The initiative emerged from a simple principle identified through the Braver Angels Trustworthy Elections work:
The initiative emerged from a simple principle identified through the Braver Angels Trustworthy Elections work:
"Voting should be easy. Cheating should be hard."
This broadly shared principle serves as a foundation for bringing people together across political, ideological, and geographic differences to explore election processes, safeguards, concerns, and opportunities for strengthening public trust.
Why This Work Matters
Trust in elections cannot be built solely through national messaging campaigns. It grows through local relationships, community understanding, and direct engagement with the people responsible for administering elections.
The initiative seeks to:
The initiative seeks to:
- Increase public understanding of election processes and safeguards
- Create opportunities for respectful dialogue across differences
- Build relationships between community members and election officials
- Strengthen civic trust and democratic participation
- Foster greater understanding between communities across the country
- Create examples and stories that can inspire broader national efforts
How the Initiative Works
Phase 1: Local Learning & Community Engagement
Trust begins close to home.
Communities are encouraged to host local gatherings that bring together residents, election officials, librarians, faith leaders, educators, civic organizations, facilitators, and other community members. These gatherings create opportunities to learn about local election systems, ask questions, and engage in meaningful conversations.
Local activities may include:
Phase 2: Connecting Communities Nationwide
After communities build local understanding and relationships, participants are invited to connect with people from other regions through facilitated national conversations. These conversations create opportunities to share experiences, explore common concerns, and discover areas of agreement across geographic and political differences.
Participants may:
Trust begins close to home.
Communities are encouraged to host local gatherings that bring together residents, election officials, librarians, faith leaders, educators, civic organizations, facilitators, and other community members. These gatherings create opportunities to learn about local election systems, ask questions, and engage in meaningful conversations.
Local activities may include:
- Learning about local election processes and safeguards
- Meeting with election officials
- Hosting community conversations
- Participating in bridge-building trainings
- Engaging across political and ideological differences
- Building relationships through shared civic engagement and service projects
Phase 2: Connecting Communities Nationwide
After communities build local understanding and relationships, participants are invited to connect with people from other regions through facilitated national conversations. These conversations create opportunities to share experiences, explore common concerns, and discover areas of agreement across geographic and political differences.
Participants may:
- Join small-group conversations with people from other states
- Share local experiences and lessons learned
- Explore how trust is built in different communities
- Identify common themes and areas of agreement
- Contribute to a broader story of trust in elections
Opportunities to Engage
Every community is different, and there is no single way to participate in the Trustworthy Elections Initiative. Whether you are an election official, librarian, faith leader, facilitator, educator, civic leader, or engaged community member, there are many ways to contribute based on your interests, capacity, and local context.
Potential next actions can include:
Potential next actions can include:
- Let us know you’re interested! Sign up here to get in the loop.
- Register to attend an information session (See upcoming meeting section below)
- Contact your local Elections Board or Clerk to talk to them about this event and find a time they can join you to participate
- Reach out to your local League of Women Voters to see if they want to partner. Find contact info here: www.lwv.org/local-leagues/find-local-league.
- Host a community conversation event
- Pick a date for your event
- Invite people: Here’s some sample community invite language to use/adapt. (You can include a link to the Civity Storytelling Intervention for people to watch before the event).
- Check out the suggested agenda here
- Hold event
- Collect qualitative data for story-sharing – photos, quotes, interviews!
Informational & Community Calls
As the Trustworthy Elections Initiative continues to grow, we host informational/community calls to connect participants, share resources, highlight emerging ideas, and support local leaders interested in strengthening trust in elections within their communities.
These gatherings provide opportunities to:
Whether you are just learning about the initiative or actively organizing conversations in your community, these meetings offer a space to ask questions, build relationships, and learn alongside others committed to strengthening trust in elections and one another.
Upcoming Meeting
Wednesday, July 22
9-10 am Pacific, 12-1 pm Eastern
Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/DFm0b_aeTHWaZ_-w4K-vfg
Join us for an informational meeting about the Trustworthy Elections initiative — a growing effort to support local leaders, facilitators, and community connectors who are interested in strengthening trust, civic participation, and public understanding of local elections. We’ll share the initiative's vision, highlight early community efforts already underway, and explore ways people can help foster constructive local conversations about elections and civic life.
This gathering is also an opportunity to connect with others, learn about available resources and support, and help shape what this initiative can become. Whether you are already engaged in civic or dialogue work or simply interested in bringing people together in your community, we invite you to join the conversation.
The Trustworthy Elections initiative is being convened by Living Room Conversations, Civity, the National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD), the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD), Interfaith America, AllSides, and a growing network of local and national leaders committed to strengthening trust in elections and one another.
Meeting Recordings
Recordings, presentation materials, and related resources from past meetings are available below.
These gatherings provide opportunities to:
- Learn about the vision, goals, and evolving activities of the initiative
- Explore resources, tools, and conversation guides
- Hear from partner organizations and community leaders
- Share successes, challenges, and lessons learned
- Connect with others working to foster civic trust and constructive dialogue
- Discover opportunities for local and national engagement
Whether you are just learning about the initiative or actively organizing conversations in your community, these meetings offer a space to ask questions, build relationships, and learn alongside others committed to strengthening trust in elections and one another.
Upcoming Meeting
Wednesday, July 22
9-10 am Pacific, 12-1 pm Eastern
Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/DFm0b_aeTHWaZ_-w4K-vfg
Join us for an informational meeting about the Trustworthy Elections initiative — a growing effort to support local leaders, facilitators, and community connectors who are interested in strengthening trust, civic participation, and public understanding of local elections. We’ll share the initiative's vision, highlight early community efforts already underway, and explore ways people can help foster constructive local conversations about elections and civic life.
This gathering is also an opportunity to connect with others, learn about available resources and support, and help shape what this initiative can become. Whether you are already engaged in civic or dialogue work or simply interested in bringing people together in your community, we invite you to join the conversation.
The Trustworthy Elections initiative is being convened by Living Room Conversations, Civity, the National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD), the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD), Interfaith America, AllSides, and a growing network of local and national leaders committed to strengthening trust in elections and one another.
Meeting Recordings
Recordings, presentation materials, and related resources from past meetings are available below.
- Watch meeting #1 recording - linked here
- Watch meeting #2 recording - linked here
Resources for Communities
Learn About Elections
Host Community Conversations - Conversation guides include:
Build Skills
- Local Election Offices
- League of Women Voters Election Resources
- Braver Angels Trustworthy Elections Report
- Interfaith America's Faith in Elections Playbook
- Committee for Safe and Secure Elections PSA Video: Increasing Trust in our Election System
Host Community Conversations - Conversation guides include:
- Trustworthy Elections Conversation & Event Design Guide
- Trustworthy Elections (Local)
- Does My Vote Really Matter?
- Public Officials and the Community
- Political Violence and the Community
Build Skills
Questions or Interested in Getting Involved?
The Trustworthy Elections Initiative is a collaborative effort, and we welcome questions, ideas, and conversations from individuals and organizations interested in supporting this work.
If you are interested in serving as a local leader, whether hosting one conversation or helping organize a broader community effort, we invite you to sign up here: https://forms.gle/1R2eDFZoWdo2hT868.
Whether you're exploring ways to host a local conversation, connect with election officials, engage your community, share resources, or simply learn more about the initiative, we'd love to hear from you.
For questions or to discuss opportunities for involvement, please contact:
If you are interested in serving as a local leader, whether hosting one conversation or helping organize a broader community effort, we invite you to sign up here: https://forms.gle/1R2eDFZoWdo2hT868.
Whether you're exploring ways to host a local conversation, connect with election officials, engage your community, share resources, or simply learn more about the initiative, we'd love to hear from you.
For questions or to discuss opportunities for involvement, please contact:
- Joan Blades (Living Room Conversations) - [email protected]
- Cheryl Graeve (National Institute for Civil Discourse) - [email protected]
- Malka Kopell (Civity) - [email protected]
- Palma Strand (Civity) - [email protected]
- Keiva Hummel (NCDD) - [email protected]
The Trustworthy Elections initiative is being convened by Living Room Conversations, Civity, the National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD), Civity, the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD), Interfaith America, AllSides, and a growing network of local and national leaders committed to strengthening trust in elections and one another