At a moment when the national conversation about voting rights is wrapped up in brutal partisan warfare, Josh Douglas, a law professor at the University of Kentucky who focuses on election law, sees hope. For Douglas, that optimism is driven by several voting reform successes already in place at the state and local level. In his new book, Vote for Us: How To Take Back Our Elections and Change The Future of Voting, Douglas chronicles those changes and the activists responsible for making them happen. He focuses on things like a successful Michigan ballot initiative to limit excessive partisan gerrymandering, automatic voter registration, establishing vote centers and lowering the voting age to 16 (a proposal that failed in the Democratic-controlled U.S. House recently). Instead of focusing on what he calls the “doom and gloom” of voting, Douglas thinks activists can use these stories to expand access to the ballot. HuffPost spoke with Douglas about his optimism for voting rights and how frustrated Americans can slowly work to make changes in their election laws. Josh Douglas: Abolishing the electoral college and getting rid of the Senate filibuster are things that are big picture ... There haven’t been success stories that we can point to and say “see this is actually working.” Because so much of the discussion of voting rights is doom and gloom, I wanted to focus on what is positive about reform efforts and what actually has worked ... It makes it easier for people to say “yeah, this can happen.” As opposed to the bigger picture things, which are important to discuss, but you know perhaps harder for people to understand and think about how we get it done. There have been plenty of people talking about bigger, structural reforms to our democracy. A lot of these local and state successes are flying under the radar. I think that’s unfortunate.

Abolishing the electoral college and getting rid of the Senate filibuster are things that are big picture...There haven’t been success stories that we can point to and say “see this is actually working.”

Sam Levine: I think it’s impossible to read your book and just not be struck by the overwhelming optimism that comes through. And it’s not something I think you hear when people are talking about voting rights. I think you hear about people trying to cheat or people trying to rig elections or suppression. For you, where does that optimism come from? Douglas: I think that optimism about what’s possible is the way to actually move forward. Yes, the things you mentioned, the voter suppression, the doom and gloom, we have to fight back. But every time that we ― the reform community that cares about expansive voting rights ― fight back, it’s almost as if another problem pops up. As I mention in the book, it’s like we’re playing Whack-a-Mole. If we actually go on the offense in a positive, optimistic way, then we can actually achieve real change. Levine: I’m curious what you would say to people who would say it’s just naive to think that we’re ever gonna get Republicans, or whoever else stands to benefit from these laws, to go along with any kind of change. Douglas: In Michigan, they won. It shows that it is possible... You’re right that some of the reforms I’ve talked about have more of a partisan balance. That’s OK. To me, the answer is not just to throw up your hands and say “well we’re never gonna change anything.” The answer is to keep at it. Sometimes change like this will need to be started at the local level first. The local level is often the place where it’s easier to pass these reforms and also good places to experiment with different kinds of models. And once we get something that works in a particular area of locality then maybe it spreads to a second place. And then a third place and then all of a sudden you’ve got much more widespread support for it because people see it working well. Vote centers are a good example of this. A Republican county clerk in Colorado thought “there’s gotta be a better way to do this,” so he implemented it even though he had some political pressure on his side against it. And now it’s spread to a whole bunch of different areas. I think the answer is “yes, some reforms are probably non-starters for Republicans, certainly on the statewide level.” But a lot of the stories in the book show how the people themselves can overcome that in the places where ballot referendums are allowed. And in other places, local successes can lead to more widespread successes. It’s a long term thing. I’m not suggesting that these reforms can be done and implemented next year. Some of this is going to be a long haul, but we have to start somewhere and plant the seed somewhere.

hermosawave via Getty Images In a new book, Josh Douglas lays out voting reforms he's optimistic about.