Entries Categorized with "FairVote"
- 10 of 82 results
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Look to Election Rules to Reverse Decline of Political Center
- Posted: May 11, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin, Rob Richie
- Categories: Instant Runoff Voting, Home, Research & Analysis, Congressional Elections, Reforms, FairVote
U.S. Senators Dick Lugar (R-IN), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Kent Conrad (R-ND) share a history of bipartisan policymaking -- and the reality that they are leaving Congress. With its "the-rules-matter" perspective, FairVote explores the way in which our winner-take-all voting system disadvantages centrist candidates and discourages bipartisanship.
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Election Wonk: Growing trend of plurality wins in governors' races
- Posted: May 7, 2012
- Author(s): The Non-Majority Rule Desk, Lindsey Needham
- Categories: Instant Runoff Voting, Home, FairVote
Over the last two years, a staggering 28% of gubernatorial races were awarded to candidates who failed to win 50% of the vote. With so many state executives in power without the expressed consent of the majority, we have to question whether our system successfully functions to deliver the will of the people.
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French Elects a New President: Analysis and Five Notable Facts
- Posted: May 7, 2012
- Author(s): Rob Richie, Hüseyin Koyuncu
- Categories: Presidential Elections, FairVote
France elected a new president on May 6 in a majority runoff in which Francois Hollande defeated incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy. FairVote's director and FairVote intern Huseyin Koyuncu, a French student from Sciences Po, report on the election and five notable facts about how France votes.
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Kenya Visit Shows Youth Vote Key in Next Presidential Election
- Posted: April 24, 2012
- Author(s): Tyler Sadonis
- Categories: Home, FairVote
After a disputed election in 2007 caused violence and chaos across Kenya, the youth are organizing to ensure a different outcome when Kenyans return to the polls in 2013 to elect a new president.
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International Women's Day: Time for Political Equality
- Posted: March 8, 2012
- Author(s): Lindsey Needham
- Categories: Home, Choice Voting/Proportional Representation, Women's Representation, FairVote
Today, March 8th, is International Women's Day! As we honor the accomplishments of women all over the world, FairVote takes a moment to investigate the lack of women in political office. What can we do to increase women's representation?
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Happy 200th Birthday to the “Gerry-mander”
- Posted: February 17, 2012
- Author(s): Tyler Sadonis
- Categories: Home, Choice Voting/Proportional Representation, Redistricting, FairVote
Saturday February 11, 2012 marked the 200th birthday of the "Gerry-mander." With 2012 redistricting plans taking shape, gerrymandering continues to be prevalent. FairVote advocates for an alternative reform to fundamentally change the way we draw district boundaries.
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PR Proposal For California: Interview with Michael Latner
- Posted: October 26, 2011
- Author(s): Krist Novoselic
- Categories: Choice Voting/Proportional Representation, FairVote
Prof. Michael S. Latner recently published a paper this year on proportional representation in California. He summarized the importance of replacing winner-take-all with a fair voting system: "This speaks to the question of genuine reform versus sort of superficial reform. If we had moderate Republicans elected from the most populous areas of the state and more moderate Democrats coming from central valley and the mountain regions, then you would see a genuine change in the partisan composition of the legislature; because they would be representing people who right now aren’t being represented in the legislature. It would be more genuine reform."
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Why Approval Voting is Unworkable in Contested Elections
- Posted: July 30, 2011
- Author(s): The Non-Majority Rule Desk
- Categories: Instant Runoff Voting, FairVote
Approval voting is a method of voting to elect single winners that has adherents among some voting theorists, but it is unworkable in contested elections in which voters have a stake in the outcome. Once aware of how approval voting works, strategic voters will always earn a significant advantage over less informed voters. This problem with strategic voting far outweighs any other factor when evaluating the potential use of approval voting in governmental elections - and is also true of range voting, score voting, the Borda Count and Bucklin voting.
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Voting Rights Constitutional Amendment Gathers Steam
- Posted: July 22, 2011
- Author(s): Right to Vote Blog, Rob Richie, Jo McKeegan
- Categories: Home, Right to Vote Amendment, FairVote
Nothing is more fundamental to democracy that a fully protected right to vote. That’s why it belongs in the U.S. Constitution.
That's why we so pleased to share good news. Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. has introduced HJR 28, the Right to Vote amendment. If you want to support HJR 28, you can take action today. Without such a right specifically enumerated in our Constitution, our fundamental voting rights are at risk.
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Lower Presidential Election Turnout in Safe Republican States
- Posted: July 8, 2011
- Author(s): Neal Suidan
- Categories: Home, National Popular Vote, Reforms, FairVote
Thirteen states have voted for Republicans in every presidential election since 1980: Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. This track record makes them the most consistently safe Republican strongholds in modern presidential politics. In 1988, these states’ turnout barely trailed that of the rest of the country, by 2.56%. But in every election since, these 13 states have fallen further behind. In 2008, their turnout was 6.22% behind the rest of the nation.