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Robert Richie
Executive
Director, FairVote-The Center for Voting and Democracy
 Robert
Richie is the executive director of the Center for
Voting and Democracy, a non-profit organization that researches and
advocates election reforms that increase voter turnout, accountable
governance and fair representation. A particular expert on
international and domestic electoral systems, Richie has directed
the Center since its founding in 1992.
Among his
activities at the Center, Richie has:
- Addressed the Voting Section of the U. S.
Department of Justice, the Texas Commission on Judicial Efficiency, the
Lincoln Day dinners of the Alaska Republican Party in Juneau and
Anchorage, the annual conventions of the American Political Science
Association, National Association of Counties, Unitarian Universalists
and National Conference of State Legislatures and several groups of
foreign dignitaries through the United States Information Agency.
- Worked with congressional staff in writing numerous pieces of
legislation, including the States' Choice of Voting Systems Act
(1999) and Bipartisan Federal Elections Review Act (2001).
- Testified in special sessions before charter commissions in Nassau
County (NY), Miami Beach (FL), Cincinnati (OH), Austin (TX) and Detroit
(MI) and before state legislative committees in Alaska, Vermont,
Virginia and Washington and advised charter commissions and elected
officials in several other cities and states.
- Helped organize six well-attended national conferences on electoral
system reform and worked with state reformers supporting fair election
methods.
- Toured New Zealand at the invitation of electoral reformers during a
successful referendum campaign in that country in 1993 to adopt a full
representation voting system.
Richie is a frequent source for print, radio and television journalists
and has published commentary in such publications as New York Times,
Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Roll Call, Nation, National Civic Review,
Boston Review, Christian Science Monitor and Legal Times. His writings
have appeared in seven books since 1999, including the feature essay in
Whose Votes Count (Beacon Press, 2001).
Richie has been a guest on many radio and
television programs, including C-SPAN, NBC News, NPR's "Talk of the
Nation" and "Fresh Air", CNN, FOX and MSNBC. He edits the Center's
newsletter and other publications like its Voting and Democracy reports
and its bi-annual analyses of congressional elections that have received
prominent news coverage around the nation.
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1962, Richie graduated
from Haverford College with a B.A. in philosophy in 1987. Before
co-founding the Center and becoming its director in 1992, he worked for
three winning congressional campaigns in Washington state and for
non-profit organizations in Washington and the District of Columbia.
He is married to Cynthia Terrell and the proud father of three children:
Savanna, Lucas and Rebecca.
You can reach Rob at: rr@fairvote.org
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