PORTLAND, Ore. - Coming off a contentious election in 2020, the United States feels, to some, as divided as it has been in recent memory. But organizations want to bridge the gap through conversation.

America Talks, a two-day event talking place this weekend, kicks off the National Week of Conversation. America Talks will pair people up via video so that they can discuss their differences.

One Portland-based organization participating in the event, Crossing Party Lines, has been connecting folks since 2016. The group's co-founder and executive director Lisa Swallow said these conversations can break down barriers in eye-opening ways.

"We get a lot of people reporting back things like they're less anxious than they used to be because they see that the other side doesn't have it out to get them, is not trying to destroy the country," said Swallow. "We see them really getting a sense of connection."

Swallow said it's important for people to feel comfortable in these situations and believes creating community is as important as facilitating dialogue. The goal of the America Talks is to connect at least 20,000 people in at least 10,000 conversations.

Carol Hottle is a volunteer with Crossing Party Lines who describes herself as a moderate Democrat.

She said the first conversation she had in the group was about the Electoral College. Before she started talking, Hottle began to wonder how much she knew about the subject.

What she knows now is that in these conversations, people have to rely on their feelings, experiences and personal knowledge.

"As you stay real and as you stay accessible through being real, then you give other people an opportunity to connect with you, whether or not they agree," said Hottle. "They can ask you questions, you can ask them questions, you can agree to disagree, but you both leave with respect."

Butch Sisavic has been participating with Crossing Party Lines over the past year and described himself as a libertarian with conservative leanings.

He said there are advantages to the organization going virtual during the pandemic - it allows people from all over the country and world to participate.

With political conversations becoming increasingly toxic, Sisavic said he has felt more isolated, but groups like Crossing Party Lines give him hope for the future.

"We have to move forward and the way to move forward, at least to understand each other's side and take steps, [is to] try to find places in the middle that makes progress," said Sisavic.

America Talks takes place June 12 and 13. The National Week of Conversation is June 14 through 20.

The Iowa League of Women Voters plans to ask the Iowa Legislature to rethink the voting restrictions put in place prior to last month's midterm elections. Among other changes, they limited the number of early voting days.

Iowa reduced the number of days that people could cast ballots early this year, from 29 days to 20. Legislators also voted to close the polls an hour earlier, at 8 p.m., and shorten the window for the state to process early ballot requests.

Terese Grant, president of the Iowa League of Women Voters, said they were reacting to claims of fraud surrounding the 2020 election.

"Lots of misinformation about voting, and it was very unfortunate that that national misinformation affected the Legislature here in Iowa, and they felt that they needed to restrict voting," she said. "It was a solution without really a problem."

So, Grant said the League will call on the Legislature in January to reverse or change those restrictions, giving voters more time and opportunity to cast ballots in the future. More than 1.2 million Iowans voted in the midterm election, the second-highest total ever.

While overall voter turnout was good statewide, Grant said, early balloting was down - most likely because of the new restrictions. She acknowledged that the odds could be steep against any less restrictive voting rules, given the current political makeup at the Statehouse.

"I'm not sure that we're going to have any success," she said. "One party controls the House, the Senate and the governor, so we can certainly ask them. I don't know that they'll do anything, but we certainly don't want any more restrictions - and we're going to certainly watch to make sure that doesn't happen."

She said the League is concerned that more restrictions will hinder voter participation and keep more people out of the democratic process.

Support for this story was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

A decision could come today on Nevada's bid to become the first state in the nation to hold a Democratic primary in 2024.

The Democratic National Committee is meeting to consider whether to change the traditional order of Iowa, then New Hampshire, and then South Carolina.

Judith Whitmer, chair of the Nevada Democratic Party, said Nevada delivered the Senate for the Democrats in the midterms and fits the bill as a small, diverse state which lends itself to retail politics, where candidates must engage with voters in person.

"The criteria are diversity and competitiveness," Whitmer pointed out. "It needs to be in a media market that isn't so overpriced that candidates can't afford it coming out of the gate."

The Nevada Republican Party is expected to hold its primary on the same day as the Democrats. Gov. Steve Sisolak signed a law last year instituting a statewide primary, replacing the former caucus system. No significant opposition has arisen in-state but multiple other states are vying to go first on the primary calendar, including Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire.

Emmanuelle Leal, national communications director for Somos Votantes, a group focused on Latino voter engagement, said Nevada provides an ideal location.

"The country does not look like Iowa. The country does not look like New Hampshire," Leal stressed. "The country looks like Nevada: a state with a diverse population of people of color, unions, with rural and urban families."

Leal noted the state chosen to go first will garner a huge amount of national attention and political influence, and will see an influx of millions in election-related spending.

Local candidates that signed onto a no-corporate-money pledge made midterm election gains in Charleston.

Katie Lauer, co-chair of West Virginia Can't Wait, said the organization now has two dozen bipartisan elected officials - including Republicans, Democrats and independents in public office across the state. She said the wins signal Mountain State voters are paying less attention to politics and more on the issues affecting their lives.

"Our goal for this cycle was to double that number to get 22 elected officials into office, and we not only met that goal, but surpassed it. So we now have 24 elected officials across the state," Lauer said. Some are on city council, some are on school boards, some are on county commissions."

Around 35% of voters statewide went to the polls for the midterms, according to a U.S. Elections Project Analysis.

She said Charleston's officials are focused on decriminalizing cannabis, instituting harm-reduction programs for substance use, addressing trauma among youths and families, and increasing minimum-wage and paid sick days for workers.


"And the question we're asking is, are there things that we can do right here at home that address the problems right in our backyard?," she said. "And who from whatever party wants to come to the table and help solve those problems?"

West Virginia Can't Wait was founded in late 2018 and ran its first slate of candidates in 2020.