Content Categorized with "Home"
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NPV Critic Response Series: The Electoral College
- Posted: October 6, 2011
- Author(s): Rob Richie, Katie P. Kelly
- Categories: Home, National Popular Vote
Critics of the National Popular Vote (NPV) plan often make misleading or misinformed remarks and judgments. To address these remarks, we are launching a new blog series designed to address the latest arguments from opponents. We start today by first reviewing some important features of the current Electoral College system and how those features influence our critique of current state laws governing modern elections. Subsequent posts will address arguments specifically and directly respond to new criticisms.
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Pennsylvanians oppose congressional district system - but also status quo
- Posted: September 29, 2011
- Author(s): Rob Richie, Katie P. Kelly
- Categories: Home, National Popular Vote
Poll numbers are useful in today's politics, but it is important to remember that the answers to other relevant questions may not always be present. Pennsylvanians oppose of Senate majority leader Dominic Pileggi’s proposal to allocate electoral votes by congressional district, but they also oppose the current system.
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Ranked Choice Voting in Action
- Posted: September 29, 2011
- Categories: Ranked Choice Voting in Bay Area Elections, Instant Runoff Voting, Home
Ranked choice voting or instant runoff voting ensures that the candidate that wins an election wins the majority of the vote. Voters will use ranked choice voting this fall in several exciting races: wide-open elections for mayor in San Francisco (CA) and Portland (ME); the presidential race in Ireland; and for other city races in the U.S., including St. Paul (MN). New voter education initiatives are helping show how easy ranked choice voting is for voters, and there have been excellent media stories.
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Shelby County v. Holder: Upholding Section 5 of Voting Rights Act
- Posted: September 29, 2011
- Author(s): Elise Helgesen
- Categories: Home
This month, the D.C. district court upheld the validity of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, dealing a huge blow to Shelby County, Alabama, but ushering in a huge victory for Section 5 proponents. Section 5 of VRA requires states and localities covered by Section 5 to submit changes in law and practice to the Department of Justice or the District Court of the District of Columbia for “preclearance.” This preclearance process prevents changes that would weaken voting rights for racial minorities. The D.C. district court's decision struck down Shelby County's facial and as applied challenges to Section 5, finding that Section 5 was a valid remedy for discriminatory voting practices.
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Arlen Specter: Extra Money for Swing State Status
- Posted: September 28, 2011
- Author(s): Katie P. Kelly
- Categories: Home, National Popular Vote
As someone who has officially been a Pennsylvanian all of her life until this month, I can say that the debate over Electoral College reform occurring across Pennsylvania has had my close attention. Senator Arlen Specter's comment made it clear that the system is set up to serve special interests. Isn't it about time for the system to serve the American people?
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Modernizing Voter Registration: An Overview of the American Enterprise Institute Conference
- Posted: September 22, 2011
- Author(s): Christina Grier
- Categories: Home, Reforms, Universal Voter Registration, Voter Preregistration
Electoral reform experts gathered together on September 19th for a conference on modernizing voter registration. Panelists discussed the current registration system, and provided solutions that will bring voter registration into the 21st century.
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Winner-take-all machinations in Pennsylvania
- Posted: September 22, 2011
- Categories: Home, National Popular Vote
FairVote for years has documented the broken nature of the current Electoral College system, including presidential candidates in general elections focusing solely on a dwindling number of winner-take-all swing states and partisans bending electoral rules to try to win those states. Now it's getting worse, with Republican leaders newly in charge of Pennsylvania backing a plan that likely would give a majority of that state's 2012 electoral votes to a candidate who lost the state's popular vote -- just as North Carolina Democrats nearly did in 2001.
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French Socialists to hold their first US-style primary
- Posted: September 21, 2011
- Author(s): Hüseyin Koyuncu
- Categories: Home, Europe, Elections Worldwide
The French Socialist Party (PS) is defined as the main opposition to the ruling party. It is one of the largest political parties in French political life. On October 9th and 16th, the PS will hold the first open presidential primary in French history. Privately administered by the party itself, the election will be in two rounds, unless one member obtains an absolute majority in the first round. The winner of the primary will be the Socialist nominee for president.
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The Disappearing Vote: A Spotlight on the Disenfranchised Felon Population of the US
- Posted: September 15, 2011
- Author(s): Christina Grier
- Categories: Home, Felon Disenfranchisement
Securing voting rights for every citizen should be a primary goal of the government. Up to 5.3 million people in the United States previously convicted of a felony are currently disenfranchised. While disproportionately affecting African-American men, the lack of voting rights due to having a criminal history serves as a hindrance to a successful re-entrance into society.
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Presidential Tracker: "Every Corner of Every Swing State"
- Posted: September 14, 2011
- Author(s): Presidential Tracker, Katie P. Kelly
- Categories: Presidential Tracker, Home, National Popular Vote
Historical trends are right on track with our Presidential tracker. As the general election comes closer, visits to states by the President are taking an interesting swing.