Todd Akin and Non-Majority Rule
Posted on What's New on August 24, 2012
Having 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 moreNorth Carolina's Miniscule Runoff Turnout Undercuts Legitimacy
Posted on What's New on July 23, 2012
A higher percentage of Americans believe in vampires than voted in North Carolina's July 17th primary runoff for nominations for Congress and key statewide offices. Unless North Carolina wants to risk a vampire or a similarly extreme candidate winning an election, it needs to change its runoff system. Instant runoff voting is the solution.
Read moreInstant Runoff Voting in Action in Takoma Park
Posted on What's New Jared Gay on July 18, 2012
Our analysis of the July 18 thinstant runoff election in Takoma Park, Maryland. We include information from an exit survey regarding opinions of instant runoff voting.
Read moreLessons Learned from Egypt's Presidential Runoff: The Case for Using an Instant Runoff Ballot
Posted on What's New Arab Spring Series, Erin Ellis on June 15, 2012
On June 14, Egypt's high court disbanded the nation's parliament elected last winter, arguing that the candidates should have run without party affiliation. The ruling makes this weekend's presidential election all the more important, as the president will become the only national government leader who has been elected and will not have a parliament to check his decisions. This blog post analysis thus takes on even greater importance.
Read moreLook to Election Rules to Reverse Decline of Political Center
Posted on What's New Sheahan Virgin on May 11, 2012
U.S. Senators Dick Lugar (R-IN), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Kent Conrad (R-ND) share a history of bipartisan policymaking -- and the reality that they are leaving Congress. With its "the-rules-matter" perspective, FairVote explores the way in which our winner-take-all voting system disadvantages centrist candidates and discourages bipartisanship.
Read moreElection Wonk: Growing trend of plurality wins in governors' races
Posted on What's New Lindsey Needham, The Non-majority Rule Desk on May 04, 2012
Over the last two years, a staggering 28% of gubernatorial races were awarded to candidates who failed to win 50% of the vote. With so many state executives in power without the expressed consent of the majority, we have to question whether our system successfully functions to deliver the will of the people.
Read moreSnowe-ball Effect: How the Loss of Yet another Congressional Moderate Makes the Case for Election Reform
Posted on What's New Sheahan Virgin on April 24, 2012
The stunning decision by Olympia Snowe to retire is just the latest example in an alarming series of setbacks for the political center, which is vital to a functioning democracy. What is clear, is that we are living through a period of severe polarization and partisanship, which has had adverse effects on the ranks of moderate politicians. FairVote's unique analysis connects the political center's travails to our damaging winner-take-all election rules and discusses the way in which alternative voting systems could boost moderates like Snowe.
Read moreSurvey of California Republicans Has Revealing Results
Posted on What's New Dorothy Scheeline on February 29, 2012
Californians for Electoral Reform conducted a revealing survey of delegates to the California Republican Party state convention last weekend. By enumerating their preferences, California Republican activists give insight into their voting patterns.
Read moreThird Parties and the Spoiler Effect In the 2012 Election
Posted on What's New The Non-majority Rule Desk, Joe Witte on February 28, 2012
As the 2012 presidential election approaches, it's clear that while many American voters are ready for a third party, America's election system is not.
Read moreRCV for the GOP: Mitt Romney, Fractured Conservatives, and the Importance of Rules in Determining Election Outcomes
Posted on What's New Sheahan Virgin on January 13, 2012
Some conservatives wonder how Mitt Romney has become the favorite for the nomination in a Republican party moving rightward. Others embrace Romney. One problem for believers of both views is the plurality voting rule that means winners don't have to secure a majority. Plurality voting arguably has been negative for all parties involved in the nomination race—whether Romney or his more conservative challengers. The solution, FairVote argues, lies in the adoption of an alternative framework: ranked choice voting.
Read more