As Americans prepare to head to the polls on Election Day, Commonplace is helping you make sense of our much-maligned voting system, and proposes ways it could recapture trust. Our October issue dives into how the system went off the rails, and how we might get it back on track.

ISSUE TWO - OCTOBER 2026

THE ELECTIONS ISSUE

Features

Amber Lapp | An American City
What Springfield, Ohio, reveals about immigration and the American Dream.
Evie Solheim | Embracing Interdependence
The 2026 Women’s Convention in Western New York shows that history doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme.
Chris Chmielenski | Cognizant Crackdown
The illegal abuse of the H-1B visa program is finally facing accountability.
Jason Mangone | On Pasadena’s Volunteer Firefighters
Coming soon

In Focus: Elections

Alex Tarascio and David Kochel | Calling Elections Rigged Is Bad Politics and Worse Civics
The habit that’s killing confidence in elections—and the party that keeps picking it up.
Trey Trainor | Confidence, Not Faith, in the Ballot Box
An election system should provide something that transcends disagreements: a process that can be examined.
Michael Brendan Dougherty | On Alternative Voting Approaches
Coming soon
Drew Holden | On Election Denialism’s History
Coming soon

Commentary

Gail Slater | Keep AI Open
Antitrust law can help preserve a competitive marketplace for artificial intelligence.
Chris Griswold | Not by Bread Alone, Mr. President
Why Trump’s promise of $5,000 payouts landed so badly.
Skyler Adleta | The Gen Z Blue-Collar Jobs Boom
A new generational opportunity is taking shape in the skilled trades.
Brad Littlejohn | Claude Is Not Your Friend
In an atomized world, even the best uses of AI tools present profound and dangerous temptation.
Oren Cass | On Midterms Noise
Coming soon

Podcasts

The Fraud-Suppression Industrial Complex with Ben Ginsberg
Can we restore confidence in America’s election systems?

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October: The Elections Issue