Entries Categorized with "Presidential Nominations Reform"
- 10 of 44 results
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The 2012 GOP Nomination Contest Affirms Value of New Rules
- Posted: April 23, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin, Rob Richie
- Categories: Research & Analysis, Home, Presidential Elections, Presidential Nominations Reform
As the 2012 Republican nomination contest effectively ends, FairVote reviews how the Republican Party's new nomination rules improved the process and proposes how to make both major parties can make it better in 2016.
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Paul vs. Paul
- Posted: April 5, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin
- Categories: Presidential Elections, Presidential Nominations Reform
Media attention in the 2012 Republican nomination contest is focused on the ace among Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, but it's also instructive to compare Paul to another candidate: himself, circa 2008.
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Romney vs. Romney
- Posted: April 5, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin
- Categories: Presidential Elections, Presidential Nominations Reform
Media attention in the Republican nomination contest is focused on this year's results for Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum. It's also informative to compare Romney to another candidate: himself, circa 2008.
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Survey of California Republicans Has Revealing Results
- Posted: February 29, 2012
- Author(s): Dorothy Scheeline
- Categories: Instant Runoff Voting, Home, Presidential Elections, Presidential Nominations Reform
Californians for Electoral Reform conducted a revealing survey of delegates to the California Republican Party state convention last weekend. By enumerating their preferences, California Republican activists give insight into their voting patterns.
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Blame Game: NJ Governor Chris Christie Wrong to Fault RNC’s Proportional Rules for Romney’s Nomination Travails
- Posted: February 28, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin
- Categories: Research & Analysis, Home, Presidential Elections, Presidential Nominations Reform
According to Romney surrogate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the Republican National Committee’s new rules (which led to more states allocating delegates by proportional representation)—not Mitt Romney and his declining vote shares relative to 2008—are at fault for his candidate’s recent travails. Blaming the rules for one’s poor performance or failure to meet expectations is certainly not a novel political strategy, but Christie’s statement—as we will see—gets a lot wrong. Just ask his state’s voters, which now are far more likely to vote in a meaningful primary.
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Rule Breaker: The Florida Republican Primary, Winner-Take-All Allocation, and the Undoing of American Democracy
- Posted: February 2, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin
- Categories: Home, Presidential Nominations Reform
When it comes to presidential elections, Florida has a penchant for controversy. The latest example comes via the 2012 GOP nomination battle: the Sunshine State has caused waves by violating RNC rules barring the use of winner-take-all allocation of delegates in pre-April contests. Winner-take-all is a highly undemocratic, broken system that marginalizes voters and shortchanges the primary process, and the GOP must prevent other states from following Florida's example.
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South Carolina voters better enjoy it while it lasts
- Posted: January 20, 2012
- Author(s): Rob Richie, Katie P. Kelly
- Categories: Home, National Popular Vote, Presidential Nominations Reform
With the South Carolina primary just around the corner on Saturday, the preferences of South Carolina voters are of intense interest to the nation -and of course to the candidates swarming the states. Events, polls, debates and the media are all focused on South Carolina voters. But after Saturday? Forget it.
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RCV for the GOP: Mitt Romney, Fractured Conservatives, and the Importance of Rules in Determining Election Outcomes
- Posted: January 20, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin
- Categories: Instant Runoff Voting, Home, Presidential Nominations Reform
Some conservatives wonder how Mitt Romney has become the favorite for the nomination in a Republican party moving rightward. Others embrace Romney. One problem for believers of both views is the plurality voting rule that means winners don't have to secure a majority. Plurality voting arguably has been negative for all parties involved in the nomination race—whether Romney or his more conservative challengers. The solution, FairVote argues, lies in the adoption of an alternative framework: ranked choice voting.
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South Carolina Primary: One Candidate May Easily Win All Delegates
- Posted: January 20, 2012
- Author(s): Rob Richie, Elise Helgesen
- Categories: Home, Presidential Nominations Reform
South Carolina's primary is on the horizon. Though the state has not played by the rules - and has been penalized by the Republican National Committee - the primary promises to be an exciting one. South Carolina's system of delegate allocation may potentially award all of the state's delegates, as well as a much-needed upswing in momentum, to the winning candidate as the race continues on toward Florida.
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Democracy Lost: the Iowa Caucus, the New Hampshire Primary, and the Shortchanging of American Presidential Politics
- Posted: January 10, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin
- Categories: Home, Presidential Nominations Reform
Although balloting in the 2012 Republican nomination battle has just begun, the race already appears to be over after just two contests: Iowa and New Hampshire. Such a result, in which the vast majority of the nation's voters are reduced to irrelevancy by an abbreviated primary process, is the newest chapter in a disturbing narrative of democratic ideals lost. Unlike most commentators, FairVote examines the preeminence of Iowa and New Hampshire with a critical eye, asking why two states with a combined 1.4% of the national population should possess a stranglehold on American presidential politics.