Greetings!

It's been a busy, productive time at FairVote, and we wanted to share with you links to the commentaries FairVote has published and news coverage we've generated in the past four months. We've created a partial list below, including coverage in national publications like the Christian Science Monitor, National Journal and New York Times.

FairVote has also made many significant radio and television appearances, including a featured interview on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and an appearance on ABC's Nightline. Finally, Paul Fidalgo joined FairVote as communications director in June and soon began our weekly Innovative Analysis series, which is starting to generate more press and is being picked up in blogs produced by The Hill and California Progress Report.

Reminder: FairVote is the lead organizer of the remarkable [Claim Democracy Conference] taking place in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 9-11 with a who's who of electoral reform, media reform and voting rights organizations. It's a great chance to get information and get connected as we head into the 2008 elections and beyond. Please register today and also consider joining us for our [15th Anniversary Gala Dinner] on November 10th.

FairVote's Commentary Highlights

• Providence Journal — “Fifteen and six for Providence City Council” by Ari Savitzky & Rep. David Segal
  October 26, 2007: FairVote RI's Ari Savitzky writes that the current Providence (RI) municipal election system is outdated, and a form of proportional representation should be adopted.
  
  
• The Hill — “Fumbling toward democracy” by David Moon
  October 4, 2007: FairVote's program director argues that states should use special elections, rather than appointments, to fill U.S. Senate vacancies.
  
  
• The Politico — “Keep it simple with a national popular vote” by Rob Richie
  October 2, 2007: FairVote's executive director supports a national popular vote for president over allocating electors by congressional district.
  
  
• The Nation — “Failing Electoral College” by Rob Richie
  October 1, 2007: FairVote's executive director argues that the National Popular Vote plan is the solution to inequalities in the current Electoral College system.
  
  
• National Civic Review — “Leave No Voter Behind” by Rob Richie
  Fall 2007: Long form article by FairVote's director on how government should prepare for participation through measures like universal voter registration, voter guides and effective civic education.
  
  
• Christian Science Monitor — “Let the most popular candidate win” by John Anderson
  September 28, 2007: FairVote's chairman explains why instant runoff voting improves our political discourse and does away with the "spoiler" label for independent candidacies. (Commentary also appeared in other newspapers like the Chicago Sun Times and Raleigh News and Observer.)
  
  
• San Jose Mercury News — “Proposed reform of Electoral College wouldn't make voting any more fair” by Rob Richie
  September 6, 2007: FairVote's executive director skewers the congressional district system for awarding electoral votes, and favors the National Popular Vote agreement. (This piece appeared in other publications such as the Austin American-Statesman and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.)
  
  
• The Miami Herald — “Primary agenda should benefit the nation first” by Ryan O'Donnell
  August 11, 2007: FairVote's presidential elections reform program director argues that states must see both an individual and collective benefit to reform, and embrace real change on the national scale.
  
  
• The New Yorker — “Votescam” by Hendrik Hertzberg
  August 2, 2007: FairVote board member writes on the folly of the statewide and national implications of California's proposed congressional district electoral vote scheme.
  
  
• Roll Call — “Vacancies Often Create One Special Election Too Many” by Paul Fidalgo and Diane Russell
  July 30, 2007: FairVote staff on how Georgia's "special-special" election to fill a vacant U.S. House seat demonstrates why IRV makes so much sense.
  
  
• Hartford Courant — “Independents Roil Vote” by Rob Richie and Paul Fidalgo
  July 17, 2007: FairVote staff contend that potential "spoilers" in the upcoming presidential election point to the need for a national popular vote and instant runoff voting.
  
  
• San Jose Mercury News — “However it's broken, it's time to fix the primaries” by Ryan O'Donnell
  July 15, 2007: FairVote's presidential elections reform program director explains the FixThePrimaries.com project that aims for a national commission to establish a saner primary nomination process in 2012.
  
  
• Providence Journal — “Connecting Young People with Democracy” by Paul Fidalgo
  July 2, 2007: FairVote's communications director calls for Gov. Carcieri to welcome Rhode Island's young voters into the political process with a law allowing advance voter registration for 16 and 17-year olds.

Media highlights, Radio and TV appearances

• WMNF Evening News (Florida) - October 2, 2007
  FairVote's Rob Richie discusses instant runoff voting in Sarasota, which will face the voters in November.
  
  
• XM Radio's P.O.T.U.S. '08 - "Morning Briefing" - October 1, 2007
  Rob Richie converses with Scott Walterman on the electoral dynamics of the 2008 race for the White House.
  
  
• NPR's “All Things Considered” - August 22, 2007
  Rob Richie and Kentucky Secretary of State Tray Grayson talk about solutions to the broken presidential primary system
  
  
• Universidad Francisco Marroquín - August 16, 2007
  Rob Richie is the subject of an online video interview on IRV in Guatemala
  
  
• WBAI Pacifica Radio — “Talkback” - August 14, 2007
  Ryan O'Donnell is interviewed on the “Fuzzy Math” report concerning the congressional district method of allocating electoral votes.
  
  
• WGTF (Ohio) — “The Louie Free Show” -July 2, 2007
  Paul Fidalgo discussed a wide range of topics, from IRV to NPV.
  
  
• WRKF (Louisiana Public Radio) — “The Jim Engster Show” - June 25, 2007
  John Anderson is interviewed on the Bloomberg effect on 2008.
  
  
• ABC's “Nightline” - June 20, 2007
  John Anderson recounts his experience to Jake Tapper on the difficult third-party trail to the White House.
  
  
• WAMU (DC Public Radio) — “The Kojo Nnamdi Show” - June 14, 2007
  Rob Richie discusses making elections more fair, with a particular focus on Maryland's kicking off the National Popular Vote compact.
  
  
• C-SPAN - June 11, 2007
  Rob Richie spoke to the Center for the Study of Responsive Law about the future of democracy.

FairVote Issues In the News

• National Journal - "Q&A with Ryan O'Donnell: Fixing the Primary Scramble"
  November 1, 2007: As part of National Journal's "Insider Interviews" series, Ryan O'Donnell talks about the primary scheduling debacle and what can be done to fix it.
  
  
• The New York Times - "Vote Early, Count Often"
  October 30, 2007: Jonathan Soros offers a new innovative proposal on presidential nomination reform.
  
  
• Pelican Press - "IRV eliminates need for runoff elections"
  October 25, 2007: Anthony Lorenzo, chair of the Florida-based Coalition for Instant Runoff Voting, explains in this letter to the editor how IRV can save money and reduce campaign negativity in Sarasota (FL).
  
  
• Washington Post - "Primary Season Has Already Passed Us By"
  October 25, 2007: In a look at the absurdities of the presidential primary schedule, Marc Fisher highlights the FairVote-backed American Plan as a solution.
  
  
• Aspen Times - "On Nov. 6, vote yes, five times"
  October 24, 2007: An outspoken Aspen local says of the city's ballot measure on instant runoff voting: "A big YES on this one."
  
  
• Winston-Salem Journal - "Instant Runoff"
  October 23rd 2007: Editorial proclaiming the success of Cary's (NC) instant runoff voting election: "If the Hendersonville vote next month is as successful as the Cary one, legislators should make this available statewide."
  
  
• The Fayetteville Observer - "Instant runoff voting could be antidote to historically low turnout."
  October 22, 2007: Editorial discussing how instant runoff voting has revitalized voter turnout in Cary (NC), and would put to good use in primary elections.
  
  
• Wilmington Star News - "A bit confusing, a lot better"
  October 22, 2007: Editorial calling for Wilmington (NC) to follow in Cary's footsteps and try IRV to better "reflect the desires of the voters."
  
  
• Sarasota Herald Tribune - "'Yes' on instant runoff voting"
  October 22, 2007: Local editorial on why instant runoff voting could be a good option for Sarasota (FL), and "deserves to be approved."
  
  
• USA Today - "To stem runoffs, new ballots have voters rank top 3"
  October 18th 2007: National article reporting on Cary's (NC) first IRV election, and the high marks it received.
  
  
• Brown Daily Herald - "After veto, voting registration bill may get a second chance"
  October 16, 2007: Article covering FairVote RI efforts to obtain a veto override for 16-year old youth voter pre-registration legislation.
  
  
• Providence Journal - "The push is on ahead of Assembly special session"
  October 15, 2007: FairVoteRI's Ari Savitsky discusses the push by legislators to include youth pre-registration bill in coming RI veto override session.
  
  
• Salon - "Let's abolish the Electoral College"
  October 12, 2007: Garrett Epps explains how the Electoral College disguises the majority and threatens democracy.
  
  
• The Leland Tribune - "Finally, A Useful Election Reform"
  October 9, 2007: John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation, expresses his strong support for instant runoff voting.
  
  
• The National Post (Ontario) — “Referendum? Lie back and think of Oscar”
  October 9, 2007: FairVote's David Moon uses the Academy Awards and pizza toppings to help explain MMP.
  
  
• Cary News - "Cary voters feel prepared for instant-runoff voting"
  October 9, 2007: Instant runoff voting was a big success for Cary (NC) voters, who tested the voting system for the first time. The choice was as easy as 1-2-3!
  
  
• Raleigh News & Observer — “The count in Cary”
  October 6, 2007: An editorial on Cary's experiment with IRV that proclaims, “score one for democracy.”
  
  
• Washington Lawyer — “Electoral College Reform?”
  October 5, 2007: A thorough look at the ins and out of the Electoral College, featuring insight from FairVote chairman John Anderson in this cover story.
  
  
• Cary News — “Instant Runoff Voting 1-2-3”
  October 5, 2007: The president of the League of Women Voters of Wake County sings the praises and offers a quick tutorial on Cary's (NC) first instant runoff election.
  
  
• LA City Beat - "Over Before It is Done"
  October 4, 2007: Columnist Andrew Gumbel expresses support for the American Plan to repair our broken presidential primaries.
  
  
• Independent Weekly - "Bob Hall on Instant Runoff Voting"
  October 3, 2007: Democracy North Carolina's Bob Hall talks IRV on the eve of the elections in Cary.
  
  
• WRAL News (Raleigh, NC) — “Cary Chosen to Test New Voting Method for Runoffs”
  October 2, 2007: Local TV news story explaining IRV to Cary (NC) voters.
  
  
• Minneapolis Star-Tribune — “Editorial: State should help city implement IRV”
  October 1, 2007: An endorsement of instant runoff voting for city elections, adding that the system is one that "many Minnesotans think would serve the state well."
  
  
• San Francisco Chronicle — “Raucous system seems immune to change”
  September 26, 2007: FairVote's Ryan O'Donnell and members of the Fix the Primaries coalition shed light on the "mess of a presidential nominating system."
  
  
• Santa Fe New Mexican — “Charter changes: some good, some, uh”¦”
  September 25, 2007: Editorial gets behind instant runoff voting as “a sophisticated concept.”
  
  
• Providence Journal — “Advocates call for several veto overrides”
  September 25, 2007: The Rhode Island legislature is expected to hold a special veto override session one day in October, which should include a 16-year-old advance-registration bill, championed by FairVote.
  
  
• Cary News — “Word getting out about Cary's new ballot”
  September 18, 2007: Cary (NC) gets set to reduce taxpayer expense, increase turnout, and give choices back to voters with instant runoff voting.
  
  
• Seattle Times — “The manipulators are ready to tilt the next election”
  September 19, 2007: Why Washington's legislature should consider joining Maryland in the National Popular Vote compact and "respect the choice of the people in 2008."
  
  
• Delaware State News — “Runoff cure for split vote? Majority unlikely with nine mayoral Candidates”
  September 16, 2007: How IRV can ensure a majority choice when multiple candidates run for mayor of Dover. Features commentary from Rob Richie.
  
  
• San Francisco Chronicle — “A most undemocratic reform”
  September 9, 2007: The absurdities inherent in the congressional district method of allocating California's electoral votes.
  
  
• The New York Times — “The Primary Problem”
  September 2, 2007: An editorial call to fix the primaries system, with a nod to the FairVote-backed American Plan.
  
  
• Aspen Daily News — “Aspen's Ready for Instant Runoff Voting”
  August 24, 2007: Editorial in favor of IRV in the wake of a presentation by FairVote's Rob Richie to the Aspen (CO) city council.
  
  
• The New York Times — “Stacking the Electoral Deck”
  August 22, 2007: Editorial comes out against schemes to allocate electoral votes by congressional districts, and reasserts support for the National Popular Vote plan.
  
  
• Tacoma News Tribune — “Quit mucking around with RCV voting”
  July 27, 2007: Editorial calls for the Pierce County (WA) Council to give the voters what they asked for, and not delay implementation of ranked choice voting.
  
  
• Minneapolis Star Tribune — “Get St. Paul in on Instant Runoff Voting”
  July 26, 2007: Editorial in support of IRV, indicating it would change Minnesota democracy for the better.
  
  
• Asheville Citizen-Times — “We have outgrown two-party elections; it's time for reform”
  July 15, 2007: Local FairVote advocate outlines the advantages of instant runoff voting. 
  
  
• WSOCTV News (Charlotte, NC) - “Movement Started to Take over Electoral College”
  July 11, 2007: Maryland State Senator Jamin Raskin advocates for the National Popular Vote bill.
  
  
• Raleigh News & Observer - “Instant Runoff Ballots Set in Cary”
  July 7, 2007: Highlighting the IRV pilot program in Cary (NC).
  
  
• Trenton Times - “Doing away with election spoilers"
  July 2, 2007: Editorial endorsement of IRV.
  
  
• The Journal News — “Ex-candidate sees big potential in Bloomberg bid”
  June 21, 2007: John Anderson is interviewed for his insights on the possibility of a strong third party presence in 2008.
  
  

FairVote's Innovative Analysis

Each week, a new way of looking at an old system.

• October 25, 2007: "Nomination by Attrition"
  Turnout drop-off in primary runoffs
  
  
• October 11, 2007: "The Senate Loses its Cool"
  The undemocratic ways states fill Senate vacancies
  
  
• October 4, 2007 — “Of Campaigns and Crosswords”
  Pluralities as poor political reflections
  
  
• September 27, 2007 — “The Primaries' Premature Nomination Problem”
  The race that started too early may be over before we know it
  
  
• September 20, 2007 — “Barry Bonds, Blast-offs and Ballots”
  What the fate of a baseball teaches us about voting
  
  
• September 13, 2007 — “The President of Everyone?”
  Crucial issues suffer when most voters don't matter
  
  
• September 6, 2007 — “The First Shall Be Last”
  The dangerous decline in primary turnout
  
  
• August 30, 2007 — “To the Spoilers Belong the Victors”
  A brief history of non-majority presidencies and wrong-winner elections
  
  
• August 23, 2007 — “Growing Polarization”
  The roots of an increasing lack of competition in federal elections
  
  
• August 16, 2007 — “History of Congressional District Method Fraught with Partisan Intrigue”
  The effort in California to award the state's electoral votes by district is framed in terms of fundamental fairness. But history points to just the opposite.
  
  
• August 9, 2007 — “Fuzzy Math”
  436 mini-elections for president are worse than one
  
  
• August 2, 2007 — “The Myth of the Recount Menace”
  What you didn't know about recounts won't kill you
  
  
• July 26, 2007 — “'08ers to Big States: We Only Love You for Your Money”
  The heart-breakin' White House hopefuls are engaged in some high-level gold digging.
  
  
• July 19, 2007 — “The People's House?”
  Not when the bums aren't afraid of being thrown out
  
  
• July 12, 2007 — “Electoral College is #1 All-Time Constitutional Target”
  More amendments introduced to reform presidential election process than for any other issue
  
  
• July 5, 2007 — “Why is My D Voting Like an R?”
  Geographic partisanship and Senate defections
  
  
• June 28, 2007 — “Electoral College Won't Keep Bloomberg Down”
  Do you think the Electoral College might be Bloomberg's biggest obstacle in a race for the White House? Think again.

Editions of Innovative Analysis Archived [HERE]

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