Political Science Intern
Abous Purplely (www.purplely.org)
Local elections are critically important. Every day, over half a million local elected officials make important and influential decisions about core services like police, fire department, transportation, housing, and clean drinking water. As cities experience robust growth, they become virtual laboratories for positive civic change, especially as federal-level political gridlock continues. According to a New York Times study, despite the incredible impact local elected officials can have on people’s lives, only 27% of eligible voters participated in local elections nationwide.
To help solve this problem, Purplely collects information directly from local election candidates, then aggregate and relay these details to voters all in one place in a way they can easily access, digest and understand. As a result, we help increase voter turnout in local elections.
We are looking for political science interns (remote) to help us expand to new cities, connect with the local election candidates, and forge partnerships with media and other voter education & outreach organizations.
Job Responsibilities
- Research policies, politicians and candidates at the municipal level
- Understand voting regulations in different cites and counties
- Collect information on local election candidates
- Reach out to candidates for interviews
- Conduct interviews on candidates
- Design and send out questionnaires to candidates
- Research and reach out to local media and other voting related organizations
Basic Qualifications
- Passionate about politics
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Being able to communicate to diverse audiences
- Intellectually curious
- Tenacious, does not give up
- Track record for being detail-oriented with a demonstrated ability to self-motivate and follow-through on projects