FairVote Tracks GOP Primaries: Understanding Proportional Representation in NH
Posted on What's New on January 11, 2012
The New Hampshire GOP allocates its delegates proportionally. How exactly do they allocate their delegates? And, how do different methods change the results?
Read moreTexas Redistricting in the Hands of the Supreme Court Yet Again
Posted on What's New Lindsey Needham on January 09, 2012
Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for three cases pertaining to Texas redistricting. In recent decades, Texas has been unable to pass a congressional redistricting plan with paying a visit to the high court. With a redistricting process that forces partisan interests to battle racial minority communities for power over a district's single seat, there is little surprise regarding these recurring controversies.
Read moreNo More Gerrymanders: Congressional Representation in the Seven At-Large States
Posted on What's New Sheahan Virgin, Fair Voting Plans on December 30, 2011
Though spared the controversies of congressional redistricting, winner-take-all rules still plague the seven at-large states (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming). Nowhere are the shortcomings of our voting system more acute than in at-large winner-take-all races, where one individual is - rather astonishingly - responsible for representing the political and demographic diversity of an entire state. Read our latest critique of winner-take-all elections and our analysis of congressional elections in these at-large states.
Read moreNo More Gerrymanders: Missouri's Partisan Plan versus the Fair Voting Alternative
Posted on What's New Lindsey Needham, Sheahan Virgin, Fair Voting Plans on December 16, 2011
Lawmakers in Missouri have recently passed a congressional redistricting plan that gives Republican candidates a strong advantage in 6 of 8 seats and protects nearly all incumbents. There's a better way--fair voting systems in multi-seat "super-districts." Read the latest in our fair voting plan series.
Read moreWas the Iowa Caucuses' Real Winner Not in the Race?
Posted on What's New on November 04, 2011
Last night, as the numbers rolled in from Iowa, cable news shows pundits analyzed the numbers in almost every way humanly possible – with particular obsession with who was going to “win.” But the media just may have missed the biggest winner: a candidate who wasn’t seeking Iowa votes last night.
Read morePR Proposal For California: Interview with Michael Latner
Posted on What's New Krist Novoselic on October 26, 2011
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."
Read moreNo More Gerrymanders: Illinois' Partisan Plan versus the Fair Voting Alternative
Posted on What's New Lindsey Needham, Sheahan Virgin, Fair Voting Plans on October 19, 2011
Check out our latest findings in the fair voting plan series. Illinois goes from 14 gerrymandered congressional districts to 4 super-districts.
Read moreUpdate: Lebanon Discusses Adopting Proportional Representation
Posted on What's New Arab Spring Series, Yasmeen Gholmieh on August 22, 2011
The Arab Spring movement has influenced Lebanon differently than many of its neighbors. Unlike nations like Syria and Yemen, there aren't street protests. Rather, the turmoil in the country is within the Parliament, not the people themselves.
Read moreDawning Digital Democracy
Posted on What's New Krist Novoselic on July 29, 2011
If we see the new forms of association as a movement itself, then we are at the beginning of that rare moment of change.
Read moreSouth Carolina: The Super District Alternative
Posted on What's New Super Districts, Jais Mehaji on July 22, 2011
Redistricting ensures that political district lines reflect population changes in the U.S. Census every ten years so that each district has the same number of voters per seat in a district. South Carolina is in the midst of redistricting and, as with most states, it’s become complicated and increasingly controversial and partisan. As explained in our recent post on Michigan, FairVote proposes an alternative to the winner-take-all system that has plagued the redistricting process, and opened it up to gerrymandering, partisan bickering, and opportunism.
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