Presidential Nominations Reform
Our presidential nomination process is breaking down. Chaos is the only constant -- with two states holding outsized influence, multi-candidate fields often producing no consensus winner, confusion over the roles of delegates and superdelegates, disparate rules from state to state, and states scrambling to "frontload" to the beginning of the calendar, clearly it is time to overhaul the presidential nomination system to make it more equitable, simple, and democratic.
When it comes to presidential elections, Florida has a penchant for controversy. The latest example comes via the 2012 GOP nomination battle: the Sunshine State has caused waves by violating RNC rules barring the use of winner-take-all allocation of delegates in pre-April contests. Winner-take-all is a highly undemocratic, broken system that marginalizes voters and shortchanges the primary process, and the GOP must prevent other states from following Florida's example.
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National Presidential Caucus for 2012 Reform
FairVote is pleased to support National Caucus in its call for vigorous and widespread discussion and deliberation about how best to reform the presidential nomination calendar for future elections. [more]
There are a lot of alternative systems the parties could use to nominate their presidential contenders. Click the links to read about some that strive to make the process saner and allow more voters to be heard, including the FairVote-backed American Plan.
Parties have great opportunities to review and improve their election systems by incorporating reforms that give more voters an equal voice and an equal vote. From representative delegate allocation regimes to ranked choice voting and expanded suffrage rights, a political party's nomination process can be a true laboratory of democracy.
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