http://www.fairvote.org/blog electoral reform & voting systems Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:04:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Cincinnati Post reports that Harris Weston has died at age 91. Harris was a wonderful friend to FairVote -- in 1992 he spoke at our founding conference in the offices of the Charter Committee that was traditionally the foundation of support for the choice voting form of proportional voting and ... http://www.fairvote.org/blog/2009/07/founding-fairvote-backer-and-cincinnati-legend-harris-weston-dies/ The American public at large is becoming increasingly sophisticated in its understanding of the Electoral College, especially with the debut of websites like FiveThirtyEight.com. The winner-take-all Electoral College system, we've come to realize, is responsible for much of the slice-and-dice demographic targeting used in modern presidential campaign. During the campaign ... http://www.fairvote.org/blog/2009/07/campaign-strategists-on-the-electoral-college/ Sarah Palin's surprise announcement today that she will step down this month as Alaska's governor has stirred a firestorm of conjecture about her motives and political prospects. There is one particularly concrete consequence, however: she will be the third woman governor to leave office since the November elections in the wake ... http://www.fairvote.org/blog/2009/07/sarah-palins-resignation-to-reduce-women-governors-to-seven/ In case you missed it (I certainly did), White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Monday unexpectedly reiterated the president's position on an issue close to our hearts. From the briefing transcript: Q:    Can I ask you one more question, just quickly, on sort of a D.C. issue?  And that ... http://www.fairvote.org/blog/2009/07/committed-to-dc/ Seems like someone, somewhere, within the depths of the Federal bureaucracy committed an Electoral College fail--and I'm not talking about the "wrong winner" elections of 1876, 1888, and 2000. The federal agency the Election Assistance Commission has an Overview of the Electoral College available for download on its website. You might ... http://www.fairvote.org/blog/2009/07/electoral-college-fail-more-more-balance-needed-in-eac-summary/ California’s complex voting and election system has recently been faced with another obstacle. The California Appellate Court in Greene v Marin County Flood Control District is currently debating whether the secret ballot ought to be mandated in certain special elections. Special elections in California are used in exceptional situations, ... http://www.fairvote.org/blog/2009/06/californias-special-election-question/ Though red-carpet glamor is hardly a typical subject of FairVote's work, I’m happy to provide an exception today.  Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shocked the cinemaphile world with its announcement that there will be 10 nominees for Best Picture in 2010, double the usual number. I’ll ... http://www.fairvote.org/blog/2009/06/1492/ The Delaware House of Representatives today handily passed the National Popular Vote plan by 23-12 with both Democratic and Republican legislators joining to establish elections where every vote is equal and the candidate with the most votes wins. Of our nation's 99 state legislative chambers, 29 have passed the NPV plan ... http://www.fairvote.org/blog/2009/06/delaware-house-votes-2-to-1-for-national-popular-vote-29th-chamber-in-18th-state/ One day after the United States celebrates its founding, Mexicans will go to the polls to elect new members to the lower house of Congress.  All 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies will be up for election on July 5, 300 chosen through the plurality system familiar to Americans, ... http://www.fairvote.org/blog/2009/06/a-hacienda-of-cards-the-mexican-congressional-election-and-the-voto-nulo-movement/ When asked about electronic voting systems (both touchscreens and optical scan machines), most people immediately recall one of several notorious Election Day disasters caused by egregious voting system malfunctions. While people are often quick to blame manufacturers for these frustrating snafus, they may be unaware of the more complex issues ... http://www.fairvote.org/blog/2009/06/clogging-the-feedback-loop-voting-systems-regulation-dysfunction/