It's Not Just Gerrymandering: Fixing House Elections Demands End of Winner-Take-All Rules
Posted on What's New on December 16, 2012
This year's elections put a spotlight on the troubled nature of how we elect the House of Representatives, the alleged "people's house." But some of our smartest election experts don't seem to understand the root of the problems with House elections.
Read moreA Representative Congress: Enhancing African American Voting Rights in the South with Choice Voting
Posted on What's New on November 27, 2012
In southern states, racially polarized elections remain an active part of political life. Since 1965, the Voting Rights Act has guaranteed that African Americans in the South cannot be shut out of elections either through direct barriers to voting or through discriminatory districts that prevent the achievement of representation. However, relying on winner-take-all elections has inherent limitations. In the belt of southern states including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas, the use of districting to achieve a fairer level of representation for African Americans has hit a ceiling. To push through that ceiling and achieve truly fair representation, FairVote recommends abandoning the single-member district in favor of super districts elected by choice voting.
Read moreThe 2012 Elections and the Vanishing Congressional Moderate
Posted on What's New on November 15, 2012
Many observers of the American political process have bemoaned our increasingly partisan Congress, with representatives from both parties clinging to the party line and refusing to compromise with the other side. If you were hoping that the 2012 elections would help this problem, here's some bad news: things are only getting worse. The congressional moderate is on the verge of extinction.
Read moreFairVote's Unique Methodology Shows That 52% of Voters Wanted a Democratic House
Posted on What's New on November 13, 2012
Using its unique methods for analyzing the underlying preferences of voters, FairVote has determined that the Republican Party has a significant structural advantage in U.S. House elections. That advantage was the most important reason why the GOP kept a comfortable majority of 54% of seats in the House despite Democratic candidates having an overall 4% advantage in voter preference over their Republican opponents.
Read moreFrance May Introduce a Little Bit of Proportional Representation to its Legislative Elections
Posted on What's New Sara Helmi on November 12, 2012
Proportional representation may be coming to the French legislature--or at least 10% of it.
Read moreMajor Media Gets it Wrong on Hong Kong Elections
Posted on What's New Sara Helmi on September 24, 2012
Hong 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 moreElecting Lords: A Unique Opportunity for Electoral Reform in the British Upper House
Posted on What's New on July 31, 2012
A 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.
Read morePrimaries Spotlight Sharp Decline in U.S. House Moderates
Posted on What's New Sheahan Virgin on May 08, 2012
On April 24, two moderate Blue Dog Democrats, Tim Holden and Jason Altmire, lost in Pennsylvania's primary election. They are the latest examples of an accelerating "no-more-moderates" trend within both major parties. But fair representation of the left, right and center is essential to the health of a democracy. Grounded in its unique the-rules-matter perspective, FairVote explores how winner-take-all voting rules today disadvantage candidates willing to seek bipartisan solutions to problems.
Read moreInternational Women's Day: Time for Political Equality
Posted on What's New Lindsey Needham on March 08, 2012
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?
Read moreHappy 200th Birthday to the "Gerry-mander"
Posted on What's New Tyler Sadonis on February 17, 2012
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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