The Electoral College in its current form is always pretty ridiculous --after all, every election it causes campaigns to ignore most of the country in favor of a handfull of swing states. But you may not know the four most nonsense Electoral College rules, written into the Constitution, that could take effect this November.
Read moreHong Kong's pro-democracy parties did not perform as well as expected in the September 9 Legislative Council elections. The New York Times would have you believe that the disappointing result can be blamed on Hong Kong's proportional representation system. But that explanation is misleading and distracts from the real problems of the city's electoral structure.
Read moreThe presidential campaign has entered its final weeks, when presidential candidates travel and campaign across the country almost every day (in swing states), advertise on television hundreds of times a day (in swing states), and thousands of volunteers devote their weekends and evenings to getting out the vote (in in swing states). This election cycle, FairVote is continuing our efforts to track the candidates’ travel and television ad spending, just as we did in the 2004 and 2008 campaigns and throughout President Barack Obama’s time in office.
Read moreOur current Electoral College rules mean that a mere four percent vote shift can make all the difference in how a state’s voters experience the presidential election. There is no better example than North Carolina and South Carolina.
Read moreWas it the hope of swing state victories that led the Republican and Democratic parties to decide to host their conventions in Charlotte, North Carolina and Tampa, Florida? Evidence suggests that it was, even if that may not mean much in terms of either campaign’s ability to win those states.
Read moreHaving just completed his 6th term in the U.S. House, Republican Todd Akin is widely known as Missouri's controversial Senate candidate. As the media scorns his comments about rape and pregnancy, many wonder how Akin came to office in the first place, which presents an opportunity to step back and examine the system that put him in power. What have we got here? A case of plurality voting and the unrepresentative legislator.
Read moreElectoral College electors weren't always chosen based on statewide winner-take-all rules. The first 13 U.S. presidential elections were messy and confusing, as each state used its own method for holding--or not holding--presidential elections.
Read moreMitt Romney's choice of Paul Ryan could improve his chances in Ryan's home state of Wisconsin, but by how much? Will the overperforming economies of many swing states give President Obama victory in November?
Read moreNationwide polls remain close, but recent swing state polling suggests that President Barack Obama is beginning to pull away from Mitt Romney in the few states that will decide the 2012 presidential election. Obama attempts to further increase this lead with another week of swing state campaigning.
Read moreA lordship, by its very definition, has historically not been an elected office. But there is a strong movement in the British House of Commons to transform the upper house of the British parliament, the House of Lords, into a largely elected body based on proportional representation. This reform is long overdue.
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