Content Categorized with "Research & Analysis"
61 - 70 of 80 results
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Supreme Court Provides No End to Redistricting Wars
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Majority Rule in International Presidential Elections
- Posted: June 6, 2006
- Author(s): Rob Richie, Rachel Lewis, and Jack Santucci
- Categories: Research & Analysis, National Popular Vote, International Elections, FairVote, All Reports
Of the 28 freest presidential democracies, 21 require the president to win with a majority of votes. Two more mandate presidents be elected with relatively high minimum pluralities. Only five allow pure plurality winners. One of them, the United States, permits the winner of the popular vote to lose the election through an Electoral College system. The 23 countries with majority and minimum plurality requirements all employ runoff elections. 22 use delayed runoff elections and one, Ireland, builds both rounds into one with instant runoff voting (IRV).
Each method has implications for voter choice, quality of campaigning and respect for majority rule. This report examines each system and its implications by way of description and case studies.
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Outside Looking In
- Posted: May 31, 2006
- Author(s): Ryan Griffin, Research Fellow
- Categories: Research & Analysis, D.C. Voting Rights, FairVote, All Reports
This report makes clear the extent to which the preferences of black and urban voters are under-represented in the nomination process. It then argues that an early primary in Washington, D.C. is the only way to give these loyal Democratic constituencies an effective voice in the 2008 nomination.
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Municipal Right to Vote Action Plan
- Posted: May 4, 2006
- Author(s): Usman Ahmed
- Categories: Research & Analysis, Right to Vote Amendment, Felon Disenfranchisement, FairVote, All Reports
Because Americans treasure the right to vote, they often are surprised by a shocking fact: the Constitution does not affirm the right to vote. As a result, there are virtually no federal election administration standards, and there is mass disenfranchisement at each election. Yet the history of voting rights in America since 1787 is one of general, if irregular, progress toward universal franchise. The Municipal Right to Vote Initiative seeks substantive reform at the local level while detailing a plan to take America's voting rights to their logical conclusion: an affirmative, federally protected right to vote.
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New Orleans to Hold First Post-Katrina Elections
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International Snapshot: Israel 2006
- Posted: April 5, 2006
- Author(s): Ryan Griffin, Research Fellow
- Categories: Research & Analysis, Middle East and Africa, International Elections, FairVote, All Reports
Israel held elections to its parliament, the Knesset, on March 28, 2006. Frequently held up as an example of why not to adopt proportional voting, Israel's election system, critics argue, tends to produce unstable, unworkable governing coalitions. But this tendency has less to do with proportional voting than the form Israel has chosen to use, in tandem with its wider political environment. This report focuses on the effects of Israel's low electoral threshold and closed party list system.
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International Snapshot: Ukraine
- Posted: April 4, 2006
- Author(s): Jack Santucci, Research Associate
- Categories: Research & Analysis, Europe, International Elections, FairVote, All Reports
Ukraine held elections to its parliament in March 2006. It was that country's first use of a fully proportional electoral system. The 1998 and 2002 elections used a parallel system in which half of seats were elected in single-member plurality districts. This paper analyzes the proportionality of results in historical perspective as well as turnout and number of effective votes. Institutional challenges and potential remedies are described. Choices about electoral institutions have important consequences for political outcomes in a representative democracy.
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The Missing Half
- Posted: April 1, 2006
- Author(s): Jack Santucci, Research Associate
- Categories: Research & Analysis, FairVote, All Reports
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Justices Weigh Partisan Gerrymandering, Legislators Seek Solutions
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Hurricane Katrina's Political Effects