E-Newsletter September 21, 2007

Released September 21, 2007

FairVote's Upgrade Democracy
Video Contest

Contest Deadline Approaching &
Susan Sarandon joins panel of celebrity judges!

FairVote's Upgrade Democracy Video Contest

GENERAL UPDATE:

1. Donate Now: Contact Ross Margulies at rossm (at) fairvote.org to donate an item (ie: collectible items and vacation timeshares) to our charity auction.

2. Presidential Elections: See Rob Richie's piece in The Nation making the case for the National Popular Vote plan for president.

3. Two Great Events: We hope to see you for the 2007 Claim Democracy Conference and our 15th Anniversary Gala on November 9th - 11th -- you can register online for both at claimdemocracy.com and fairvote.org/gala.

We also wanted to applaud a new effort by one of our office building neighbors, Center for a New American Dream to reduce junk mail. You can join their campaign with a special offer this month [HERE].

4. Big Win for Ranked Choice Voting: Congratulations are also in order for Californians for Electoral Reform, for successfully persuading the California legislature to pass AB 1294, a bill to provide cities with the option to adopt instant runoff voting and choice voting!

5. New Cary, NC IRV Video: Check out the new instant runoff voting educational video made by the North Carolina Center for Voter Education for Cary, NC's upcoming IRV elections [HERE].

Enter FairVote's Contest:

The window is closing on your chance to show us your talent and creativity in FairVote's Upgrade Democracy Video Contest! September 28 is the last day we'll be taking submissions.

All you have to do is make a short digital video that answers the question:


"If you could change anything about elections, what would our democracy look like?"


Then upload your video to YouTube.com, where FairVote staff will choose a slate of nominees, and winners will be chosen by celebrity judges like Susan Sarandon, filmmaker Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Dazed and Confused), political guru Donna Brazile, The Daily Show's Dan Bakkedahl, Nirvana's Krist Noveselic, and many more!

Prizes will be awarded in various categories, and the first prize winner will pick up $2000 and a trip to Washington, DC to receive their award at FairVote's Claim Democracy 2007 Conference on November 10, 2007 (visit the conference site for agenda and registration info).

Click over to www.UpgradeDemocracy.com for all the details. And hurry, because time is running out!

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