On March 2nd, Northern Ireland’s citizens cast their votes to elect the nation’s 2017 Legislative Assembly. The Irish nationalist Sinn Fein (SF) party closed the gap on the predominant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) while smaller, more moderate parties such as the Ulster Unionist Party and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland gained improved representation.

In 2008, Wendy Davis was elected to the Texas State Senate from a district that leans Republican. However, despite this, crossover representatives in the Texas Statehouse are rarer than ever.

On March 2, 2017, Northern Ireland’s citizens will cast their votes for Members of the country’s sixth Legislative Assembly. In this election, the country’s heavily Protestant Democratic Union Party (DUP), which holds 37 of the 108 seats, will face off with the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein Party (28 seats) for influence over the Assembly’s legislative agenda.

There will be a new experiment in divided government. The Connecticut State Senate is now perfectly tied 18-18 for the first time since 1893. It is too early now to know what sort of concessions Democrats may offer. However, FairVote’s guide to Collaborative Policy Making could serve as a road map for inclusive policy making in the state Senate. Connecticut currently uses none of the agenda setting and consensus building practices that lead to a more civil and functional divided government.

As the 2016 election came to a close last month, American voters breathed a sigh of relief that the exhausting campaigns were finally over. However, the citizens of Los Angeles cannot relax just yet -- important elections for the city’s mayor, as well as eight of its 15 city council seats, are rapidly approaching.

Even after the adoption of an independent redistricting commission, seven of Arizona’s nine congressional districts are completely safe for the party that holds them. We report on the impact of redistricting on competition in U.S. house races since 1984.

North Carolina’s decision to eliminate primary runoffs echoes FairVote’s critique of runoffs. In lieu of primary runoffs or plurality voting, North Carolina and other states should adopt ranked choice voting to ensure that elected officials win with broad support and avoid the expense and inconvenience of dragging voters back for another election.

September 27 marks National Voter Registration Day. For many, this day symbolizes American democracy and an invitation to all citizens to participate in the government. What many might not know is that the United States is one of the only democracies in the world to not automatically register voters, instead shifting the responsibility to political parties, organizations, and elected officials with a history of bias.

The act of selecting leaders is vital to a democracy. However, in 34 Congressional districts in 2016, voters won’t be making a choice. These 34 districts are held by incumbents who faced no opposition in their party’s primary and no major party competition in the general election.

Something as monumentally important for American democracy as its electoral process requires serious, data-driven solutions, and FairVote has shown that they have the answers. I’m excited to join FairVote’s team and work on finding the solutions that will expand access to the ballot box for all Americans.