August is National Civility Month, and finding common ground in politics without name-calling might seem like an insurmountable task.

A South Dakota expert said a lot of factors led to this point, but some brave steps could ease the tension.

David Wiltse, associate professor of political science at South Dakota State University, said researchers have noticed a rise in "negative partisanship." Influenced by what they see on social media, he said people's enthusiasm for their own political party is outweighed by a desire to demonize those aligned with the other major party.

"What's driving your partisanship is more of a sense of how different and how corrupt or evil your opposition is," Wiltse explained.

Wiltse noted politicians pick up on these cues, leading to extreme rhetoric on the campaign trail, especially for primary elections. But he argued it is up to the political elite to put a stop to it. Just like voters becoming more isolated from people with different viewpoints, he said members of Congress do not spend as much time around each other working on solutions as much as they used to.

But it is not just about leaders fostering an environment to reestablish relationship-building among federal lawmakers. Wiltse suggested politicians calling out members of their own party, to tone down hateful or inaccurate rhetoric, could help turn the tide.

"It's not as if every single politician is behaving this way," Wiltse acknowledged. "It's just you've got enough who really are fueling this incivility and really trying to use that as their pathway to power."

He cited the late Sen. John McCain in his 2008 presidential bid as an example of bravery that still might work today. The Arizona Republican confronted his own supporters for spreading inflammatory comments about his opponent, Barack Obama. Wiltse added while McCain's bid for the White House was not successful, his effort in addressing some of the nasty behavior appeared to be effective.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.

In a significant turnaround, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has reversed its stance on ballot dropboxes - making them legal again in a 4-3 ruling.

Two years ago, when conservatives controlled the court, the justices restricted the use of dropboxes. The ruling said they could only be placed in local election clerks' offices, and a voter had to return their own ballot in person. However, when Justice Janet Protasiewicz was elected last April, control shifted on the high court.

Nick Ramos, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, is pleased with the decision and said his organization has known all along dropboxes are safe and improve voting access.

"They are a way that the electorate can access our democracy when it isn't necessarily so convenient," Ramos argued. "For our health care workers, the rural community, single parents out there."

Conservative members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court were against reviewing the case, stressing the significance of upholding and respecting legal precedent.

Luke Berg, deputy counsel at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, condemned the ruling, calling it "one of the worst decisions from the court in recent memory." He is convinced it was political and not what he thinks a court should be doing.

"I think it's deeply ironic that the court announced, by judicial fiat, its policy preference on a voting issue on the same day that it issued an opinion praising separation of powers, and then violated those very principles in the other opinion it issued," Berg asserted.

Ramos maintained the decision to make ballot boxes more widely available sends a clear message not only to the people of Wisconsin but the entire country.

"Especially after the year we've had, with bringing new maps, after living under the extreme partisan gerrymander that we've lived under for over a decade," Ramos emphasized. "It's a message of hope."

Ramos added he is proud of the volunteers, activists and key organizations who worked to bring about the change.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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Arizona's 50+ voters will be key in determining who wins the presidential election in November.

A new AARP Arizona poll, which was commissioned before the recent debate debacle, found former President Donald Trump leading President Joe Biden by eight percentage pointed.

Bob Ward, partner at the research firm Fabrizio Ward, said Arizona has a high number of older voters, which have historically made their voices heard but are not necessarily party-loyal. He pointed out one of the poll findings worth noting is women over the age of 50 could play a pivotal role in tipping the scales.

"There is a gender gap, and if we look at women over 50, they are tied on the presidential race," Ward reported. "Both Trump and Biden are at 42% among women 50+ and Trump has more than a 22-point lead among men 50+."

Ward added Trump's lead among older Arizona voters is 10 points ahead of Biden, with most citing immigration and border security as the most important issue, followed by inflation and rising prices and threats to democracy. Meanwhile, Arizona Hispanic voters are helping Biden lead over Trump, 48% to 37% respectively.

Another highly anticipated contest is the Senate race between Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake. Poll results showed Gallego holds a narrow lead over Lake. The gender gap among 50+ voters is also significant, with women supporting Gallego by 12 percentage points and men preferring Lake by 15. Gallego has been an advocate for abortion rights and Lake has been a strong proponent for increased border security.

Jeff Liszt, partner at Impact Research, said 50+ voters are highly motivated and will make their voice heard.

"If you look at the people that are 10 out of 10, extremely motivated to vote, the percentage of voters over 50, who are 10 out of 10 is 86%," Liszt explained. "That is 20 points higher than the 66% of voters under age 50 who tell us they are 10 out of 10 motivated to vote."

Liszt called it a huge gap and added it will be interesting to see whether younger voters will show up and vote, adding he has confidence in older voters in the Grand Canyon State.


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Data show older voters are an influential demographic in Wyoming elections and a new series of videos asks candidates questions specific to the group.

The Secretary of State said more than two-thirds of Wyoming voters in 2022 were over age 50.

Tom Lacock, associate state director for AARP Wyoming, said sometimes issues important to the group get overlooked. The organization is producing a series of short videos with candidates asking straight-to-the-point questions about property taxes, funding ambulance services and how the state can best help older adults age in their homes and communities.

Lacock explained the questions are designed to focus on issues important to older voters.

"We're hoping that doing this helps cut through some of the other stuff that you see online," Lacock emphasized. "And becomes less about maybe a specific party or even a specific traction of a party and more issues-based."

Lacock reported candidate participation is increasing. As of Wednesday, the AARP Wyoming Facebook page and website featured videos from 18 races and 44 candidates across the state. Many Wyoming races will be decided during the primary and Lacock pointed out the group is working to release more videos before the Aug. 20 election.

Lacock noted AARP started the video series before the 2022 election. The number of video views for this year's primary, he added, shows voters aged 50 and up are continuing to pay attention.

"We're approaching 2,300 over the course of the last month," Lacock observed. "People are taking the time to look through these to figure out where candidates sit on issues that are important to them."