Content Categorized with "Home"

371 - 380 of 532 results

  • National Popular Vote: Halfway to Victory with California Win

    On July 14, the California State Senate voted 23-15 in favor of the National Popular Vote bill. Last month it passed the California State Assembly by 51-21 margin and now goes to Governor Jerry Brown for approval. With his signature, California will become the eighth state (joined by DC) to enact the National Popular Vote plan. 

    Read More

  • Lower Presidential Election Turnout in Safe Republican States

    Thirteen states have voted for Republicans in every presidential election since 1980: Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. This track record makes them the most consistently safe Republican strongholds in modern presidential politics. In 1988, these states’ turnout barely trailed that of the rest of the country, by 2.56%. But in every election since, these 13 states have fallen further behind. In 2008, their turnout was 6.22% behind the rest of the nation. 

    Read More

  • Rossello v. United States and the Right to Vote for Puerto Rico

    Brought in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights  by former governor of Puerto Rico Pedro Rossello, Rossello v. United States addresses the lack of a right to cast a ballot and have such ballots counted in national elections for president and Congress by residents of Puerto Rico. Petitioner Rossello has been disenfranchised, along with all other residents of Puerto Rico, despite his American citizenship,  based solely on his area of residence within the United States. The case raises larger issues about voting rights for Americans who live in American "colonies" that are not states.

    Read More

  • Top Two Primaries: The Right to Write In in California

    Last August FairVote argued that California's new Top Two "Open" Primaries system would be improved by ending its ban on counting write-in votes in the general election, as included in the legislature's implementing statute. The provision is now the subject of litigation.

    Read More

  • Tracking and Reforming Redistricting

    The process of redistricting is highly partisan and often comes at the expense of voters. FairVote has developed a number of new resources regarding redistricting, including:

    • Glossary - An A to Z guide to terms and definitions
    • Litigation - A summary of ongoing lawsuits to redistricting plans and procedures throughout the country
    • Reform Legislation - A report on proposed laws in all fifty states to improve redistricting processes
    • Resource List - A guide and review of the best redistricting resources from around the web
    • News - A compilation of tweets to news stories and opinion by state
    • Alternative Approaches - Drawings of proposed "super districts" for all states used for proportional voting systems
    • Additional Links - FairVote also contributes to Endgerrymandering.com and tweets current redistricting news

     

    Read More

  • What if the Right to Vote Started at Birth?

    Journalist Jonathan Bernstein has raised an interesting question: at what age should we be allowed to begin voting? More specifically, should citizens be given the right to vote at birth, with our parents voting for us before we're capable (Bernstein suggests the ripe old age of 15 for voting on one's own)? It's certainly an interesting theory. FairVote is not endorsing such a position, but we do think it would be interesting to look at both sides of the issue, grounded in the fact that if we treat voting as a right, we should only limit rights for very good reasons.

    Read More

  • Major Legal Victory for Ranked Choice Voting — and Reform

    On May 20th, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a lower federal court ruling rejecting a legal challenge to the City of San Francisco's use of ranked choice voting (RCV, also known as instant runoff voting, or IRV). The three-judge panel emphatically dismissed the plaintiffs' arguments, including a particularly clear rejection of the claim that RCV violates the principles of one-person, one-vote or equal protection under the law.

    Read More

  • Fixing Broken Presidential Elections with "NPV"

    First detailed in FairVote's 2006 Presidential Elections Inequality report, current state laws allocating electoral votes have a perverse impact on equality in our republic. As a result of our electoral system, the number of competitive states has also dropped recently, indicating that Presidents don't reach out to as many states as before. At the same time, we have a reform available for action: the National Popular Vote plan, which has chalked up new state wins.

    Read More

  • The Constitutional Right to Vote Blog: Rock the Blog!

     “The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.” While the language of the 26th amendment is intended to serve young people well, it still leaves open a loophole in Constitutional law- while young people cannot be discriminated against based on their age, they can be denied the chance to vote, or have their ability to vote abridged, for reasons that can also undercut voting rights for older citizens. 

    Read More

  • The Right to Vote Blog: Put more money into politics?

    “Let’s put more money into politics!” is a rallying cry that won’t win over too many supporters.

    Read More