Paul Fidalgo was Communications Director at FairVote.

Filming has wrapped, the submissions are in, and we at FairVote are proud to announce our ten finalists for the Upgrade Democracy Video Contest! We asked people around the country to tell us what they think democracy should look like for a chance to win $2000 and a trip to Washington, DC to receive their award at the FairVote 15th Anniversary Gala, November 10, 2007.

Our panel of celebrity judges including Susan Sarandon, filmmaker Richard Linklater, Donna Brazile, The Daily Show’s Dan Bakkedahl, and others (click here for a complete list) will now review these ten videos and choose our first, second, and third place winners. . .but it doesn’t end there.

The People’s Choice: Because FairVote is dedicated to democracy, we want to give everyone a chance to voice their opinions as to which video they think is the best of the bunch - so we’re holding an election! The entry that wins a majority of votes through an online instant runoff voting ballot will be the “popular vote” winner!

All you have to do is rank the videos in order of preference: rank your favorite as “1″, your second favorite as “2″, and so on. Click here to open an account, check out the finalists, and vote.

We at FairVote also wish to sincerely thank everyone that took the time to create a video for this contest. We had a tough time choosing the finalists, and we were deeply impressed by the imagination, resourcefulness, and hard work that went into them.

And don’t forget about Claim Democracy 2007, November 9th to 11th at the University of the District of Columbia - the largest gathering in years of leaders and luminaries dedicated to giving our democracy a real upgrade.

Now go and vote!

Other posts by Paul

• Nomination by Attrition - October 25th, 2007
• Cary Voters Sing the Praises of IRV - October 25th, 2007
• FairVote Announces Upgrade Democracy Video Contest Finalists! - October 23rd, 2007
• The Senate Loses its Cool: The Undemocratic Ways States Fill Senate Vacancies - October 12th, 2007
• Of Campaigns and Crosswords: Pluralities as Poor Political Reflections - October 4th, 2007
• The Primaries' Premature Nomination Problem - September 28th, 2007
• Barry Bonds, Blast-offs and Ballots: What the Fate of a Baseball Teaches Us about Voting - September 20th, 2007
• The President of Everyone? Crucial Issues Suffer when Most Voters Don't Matter - September 13th, 2007
• Upgrade Democracy Video Contest News Update - September 11th, 2007
• The First Shall Be Last: The Dangerous Decline in Primary Turnout - September 7th, 2007