Forward Podcast: Do Voters Really Care About Democracy?

image
Shawn GriffithsShawn Griffiths
Published: 13 Jun, 2023
1 min read

In his most recent podcast, former presidential candidate and Foward Party Founder Andrew Yang sat down with Citizen Data CEO Mindy Finn to discuss what voters really want, according to the data -- and what the data shows is voters want better elections.

Citizen Data is a nonpartisan research and analytics company that, in Finn's words, "recognized the need for better nonpartisan data in the political sphere." Pollsters and data analysts have long approached political and social topics from the perspective of red versus blue. In other words, they focus on division.

Finn says her company is focused on data and analytics that can bridge divides.

Politicos have long approached the issue of democracy as something voters do not care about. Yet, what Citizen Data has found is elections-- and more specifically election reform -- and protecting democracy are increasingly the top issues for people across the political spectrum.

Citizen Data, for example, recently released new data that shows most voters want to rank their options in presidential primaries. Overall, voters want more choice in elections, and they want the process to be fair to all voters, regardless of political affiliation or lack thereof. 

Yang and Finn talk about Citizen Data's research and polling, as well as Finn's experience as a vice presidential running mate. She ran in 2016 on an independent ticket alongside Evan McMullen. Check out the full conversation above. 

You Might Also Like

Woman walking away with a I voted sticker on.
Hey New York Times, Your Party Voter Registration Story is Pretty Bad
The press has a problem with independent voters. Specifically, the historic growth seen in independe...
20 Aug, 2025
-
6 min read
Hand in ballot that says independent on it.
Why 1.2 Million California Independents Are The Biggest Wild Card in American Politics Today
The fate of Proposition 50, California’s proposed redistricting measure, may come down to voters who have declined to join one of the two major political parties....
22 Aug, 2025
-
5 min read
Redistricting fight.
The 10 Worst Gerrymandered States in the Country
Monday marked another escalation in the mid-cycle redistricting fight between Republicans in Texas and Democrats in California – with one in another special session to add 5 more GOP seats, and the other maneuvering to counter this with 5 new Democratic seats....
18 Aug, 2025
-
7 min read