Meet Brian Riley, a government major in his second year at Colby College in Maine and a research intern at FairVote for the month of January.

My name is Diane Silver, and I’m super psyched to be part of the FairVote team as an outreach organizer. 

"At FairVote, I hope to continue working on public communication and covering important political developments in real time, just like my work in Youth and Government."

"I’ve followed through on my goal to help make our electoral systems more equitable, and I am more than lucky to spend the summer working with FairVote’s incredibly kind, knowledgeable, and committed staff on voting rights issues that affect us all."

"Electoral reform is a rudimentary aspect of democracy that we’re missing. America is losing hundreds of thousands, potentially even millions of votes, because people say their votes won’t matter, and right now, they’re often right. Change has to happen to ensure the democratic, constructive future of the United States."

"Democracy has always been messy, and it always will be, but that should not discourage us from demanding solutions to the inequities of voting in our cities, states, and country. Looking back on the 2008 election, despite there being record levels of turnout, two out of every five people decided to stay home. Is this the best we can do? I think not."

"I came to work at FairVote because I think ranked choice voting (RCV) offers a way out. RCV creates more proportional representation, has a history of giving minorities more access to political office, and lets voters elect individual representatives rather than a party slate."

"So many of the most pressing issues of today - unpopular politicians, polarized politics, and inadequate policy discourse - are the result of broken electoral procedures and ineffective voting methods. At FairVote, I hope to be part of the movement to build a more fair, representative democracy that speaks for everyone. "

"This summer at FairVote, I am excited to be with a new set of people who are working to solve one of the most significant problems in the country."

As a non-traditional student working full time while attending Riverside Community College, I had the opportunity to work for several national non-profit organizations advocating for the rights of some of the country’s most marginalized communities.