[T]he continued shift of voting rights battles to the states highlights that where one lives too often determines his or her ability to participate in this fundamental exercise in democracy. In analyzing accessibility of the ballot, this report identifies two key findings: first, the highest ranking states in this category have significantly higher voter turnout—on average, almost four percentage points higher than the lowest ranking states; second, that states previously covered by Voting Rights Act preclearance requirements perform poorly in this category—none of the nine states that were covered in total by preclearance requirements receives a grade higher than a D+ in this accessibility of the ballot measures.

There is no state in which women are overrepresented in elective office, and only two—Vermont and Mississippi—in which people of color are represented in the state’s elective offices at or above their share of the population at large.

The Center for American Progress has completed a comprehensive report on democracy in the states, and it's not too pretty when it comes to the most basic of factors— voting The report looks at 22 factors for democracy grouped into categories of accessibility, representation, and influence—who has the most sway with elected officials. When taking all these factors into account, Maine emerges as the state with the healthiest democracy (even with Gov. Paul LePage). But overall, the picture is pretty grim for many of these factors. Consider representation:The report argues that "these issues must be addressed in sum—and no longer in silos," and provides a list of policy recommendations that states can implement from making voter registration easier to expanding voting accessibility and making redistricting fairer and more representative. Toss in real campaign finance limits at the state level and you have a solid list of policies that could make representative democracy work. The problem is, most of the states with failing grades have been purposely built by Republican leadership that way.