Rob Richie is director of FairVote. See his page at fairvote.org for more information.

Thanks in part to the hard work of FairVote Rhode Island’s Ari Savitzky, the Rhode Island state senate had a big day for electoral reform yesterday. It became the 18th state legislative chamber to pass the National Popular Vote plan and also approved advance voter registration, both by landslide, veto-proof majorities.

This should finally be the year for advance voter registration in Rhode Island. We think the concept that turning 16 should give you the power to register to vote will become a national norm, ideally twinned with focused voter education instruction on mechanics and the history of suffrage that will prepare people for voting when they become eligible. FairVote’s Adam Fogel is doing terrific work in this area with the assistance of colleagues like Tara Young and Ekua Boateng.

As to the National Popular Vote plan, Rhode Island is a quintessential “throwaway state” in general elections, in David Broder parlance. It’s a no-brainer for it to want a national popular vote where every vote is equal. Certainly it won’t see any presidential campaign activity this fall. Time Magazine in its May 26th issue lists 14 states to watch — and its the same old, same old list of battelgrounds from recent presidential elections, as detailed in our Presidential Election Inequality report. Our current system is broken in its fundamentals, and i predict the National Popular Vote plan will fix it by 2012

Already the candidates are zeroing in on the battlegrounds –likely Democratic nominee Barack Obama, for example, gave his last speech after a primary in Iowa, one of the most closely contested November 2004 states, while both Obama and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain both spent Memorial Day in New Mexico, the closest state in popular votes in both 2000 and 2004. Obama then headed for two days of campaigning in Nevada and Colorado, both projected battlegrounds after close contests in 2004. Stay tuned — that is, if you’re not one of the great majority of Americans living in 2008 “throwaway states.”

Other posts by Rob Richie

• Instant runoff in action -- voter choice and more positive campaigns - October 1st, 2008
• Lessons from the Post's bizarre coverage of Virginia prez poll - September 23rd, 2008
• Ranked choice voting methods chalk up new wins in NC, more - July 19th, 2008
• Katrina vanden Heuvel's powerful case for an agenda to transform American elections - July 4th, 2008
• Shame on Rhode Island's governor -- vying for anti-reform governor of the year - July 4th, 2008
• Choice voting form of "PR" boosted in Cincinnati (OH) & Port Chester (NY) - July 4th, 2008
• Former FairVote board member Donna Edwards takes seat in Congress - June 21st, 2008
• US Senator Bill Nelson leads on key FairVote priorities: Electoral College, advance registration, more - June 10th, 2008
• IRV backer wins key California GOP primary while Montana GOP experiences bizarre plurality result - June 9th, 2008
• Election audits get a boost in Minnesota -- and are coming to a state near you - June 9th, 2008