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  • FairVote anticipates a remarkable 2012

    • Posted: December 16, 2011
    • Categories: Home

     

    FairVote offers compelling reforms designed to embrace the beauty and power of people coming together for the common good. For us, fair elections demand real choices no matter where you live. Real representation means being able to join with like-minded people to elect candidates in proportion to your voting strength. Democracy rests on your ongoing participation.

    We're proud of our 2011 and eager for what 2012 will bring. Please peruse our blog, our research reportsand our other resources. For those ready to help realize our vision, we ask that you consider a charitable contribution. Thank you!

     

     

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  • FairVote Reformer December 16, 2011

    What 2011 says about the 2012 elections

    As we come to the end of 2011, it's a time to reflect on what we've learned about democracy this year -- and what it means for the 2012 elections and beyond.

    What we've learned is that Americans are upset with their government.

    Americans hunger for more choices, but have fewer meaningful ones on Election Day than ever. They worry about special interest money pouring into politics, but it only keeps rising. They care about the right to vote, but face new restistrictions in many states that are sure to dampen participation.

    That's the downside. The positive news is that change is coming. Consider these highlights:

    • Six cities had ranked choice voting ("IRV") elections this November, with voters being able to rank candidates in order of choice without fear of "spoiling" elections.
    • Two more states approved the National Popular Vote plan for president: our biggest (California) and one of our smallest (Vermont).
    • Proportional voting had a big year internationally, including being adopted by most Arab nations moving toward democracy. I
    • Legislation to establish a constitutional right to vote has 48 sponsors.

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  • Egypt: The Military Struggles to Maintain its Legitimacy

    Amidst controversies and protests, Egypt last month held the first in a series of elections for a new parliament. FairVote has covered the region's moves toward representative democracy in our Arab Spring series. Here’s the first of a series of posts analyzing the elections, starting with a focus on the state country before the voting last month.

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  • Learning a Lesson from Egypt’s Universal Voter Registration

    Egypt recently began the process of electing members to its People's Assembly. Egypt's parliamentary elections provide an example for the United States worth taking note. Egypt uses a system of universal voter registration, which helped bring large numbers of voters to the polls. FairVote believes this type of universal voter registration would modernize and improve the type of voter registration in American elections.

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  • America's Young Voters: Who They Are and Why They Matter

    Young voters hold the key to the future of the country and are an important part of the electorate. Just like every other age group, they are frustrated with political officials. Yet despite this frustration, there has been a slight increase in youth voter turnout over the past few years. Even with the increase in turnout, young voters still vote at a lesser rate than voters of other age groups. It is a problem that needs to be addressed because the strength of our democracy depends on all voters participating.

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  • Response to “A rogue convention? How GOP party rules may surprise in 2012”

    Following up on our recent article in Politico, we share our thoughts about the 2012 Republican National Convention, a few points about Rule 38's unit rule and its implication on delegates' voting methods, and finally, our response to critics who say we have misinterpreted the rules.

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  • Presidential Tracker: Looking at the Structure

    Tracking the president's events and visits doesn't produce surprises considering the electoral system under which he operates, but it does provide insight into the inadequacies of our current structure -- affirming that the rules have a direct correlation on the outcomes.

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  • “Mr. Normal” Francois Hollande to Face French President Sarkozy

    Francois Hollande, the so-called “Mr. Normal” of French politics, will now represent the Socialist party in the April 2012 general election as his party seeks to unseat incumbent first-term president Nicolas Sarkozy. The party’s most critical challenge will be to unite behind its official candidate, lest bitter feelings and ideological squabbling endanger the party’s chances against Sarkozy. Those focused on electoral process are particularly interested in how Hollande won France's first-ever national primary to pick a major party nominee

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  • Portland’s Biggest Winner: Democracy with Ranked Choice Voting

    What shouldn’t be missed in the fray of post-election coverage in Maine is the glorious five minutes of pure democratic spirit that everyone experienced when the round-by-results results of the first ranked choice voting election for Portland's mayor were presented before everyone's eyes. In what other instance would you have every single candidate in the race, their supporters, the media, community members that were just curious, all in one room, waiting to hear the results? For those five minutes, there wasn't any politicking, just democracy in action.

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  • Elections 2011: Ranked Choice Voting & More

    • Posted: November 11, 2011
    • Categories: Home

    Many Americans had a chance to vote in state and local elections on November 8. FairVote was particularly focused on the first-ever use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in Maine's biggest city of Portland, along with RCV elections in St. Paul (MN), San Francisco (CA), Cambridge (MA), Telluride (CO) and Takoma Park (MD). The news from these elections was extremely promising for reform advocates. Voters and election officials handled the system well, and more than two candidates were able to run without talk of "spoilers."

    We remain concerned about voter turnout decline in many elections and low numbers of contested races. We see winner-take-all rules as increasingly locking voters into one-party, no-contest boxes. Fair voting methods of proportional voting are necessary to  provide meaningful choices and fair representation in our legislative elections.

    Here are links:

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