FairVote News Flash, November 1, 2005

Richie on Talk of the Nation and MSNBC’s Mockracy

Plus: FairVote on filibuster controversy, plurality winners, presidential elections, more

Look for our 2005 election special newsletter in the coming week, but we wanted to send out a flash alert today about fast-breaking media developments:


FairVote’s Rob Richie on NPR’s Talk of the Nation today

• FairVote’s executive director Rob Richie will be a guest on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation in the 2 pm – 3 pm ET hour. The subject will be redistricting, legislative competition and proportional voting.
  
  
• Related Links:
• NPR’s Talk of the Nation
• FairVote’s Redistricting Reform Watch
• Richie’s articles in National Civic Review and Legal Times

Proportional Voting in MSNBC’s Mockracy

• MSNBC.com has an excellent new interactive flash animation that illustrates how different proportional voting systems might improve our democracy. An animated version of FairVote’s Rob Richie is one of the productions’ two on-line guides to the systems.
  
  
• Related Links:
• MSNBC’s Mockracy
• FairVote’s Program for Representative Government

Filibuster Controversies: Time for Judicial Nomination Reform

• FairVote’s new release on its findings showing that undercuts arguments made in support of filibusters and in opposing them. Given the likely filibuster of Samuel Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court, we believe it’s the right time to debate better, more inclusive ways of nominating federal judges.
  
  
• Related Links:
• FairVote’s Filibuster 2005: Who Represents America?

Who Picks the President?

• FairVote’s latest report on presidential elections focuses on spending and campaign activity by the major party campaigns in the peak season of the 2004 campaign. We show incredible levels of inequality of attention given to different states. Only seven states received significant attention, small states are treated the worst overall and Florida had more television ad spending than 46 states combined. The report is being released today in Illinois, the home state of FairVote chairman John Anderson.
  
  
• Related Links:
• Who Picks the President?
• The Shrinking Battleground (July 2005 report)
• Today’s Tompaine.Com article by FairVote’s Chris Pearson and Ryan O’Donnell

FairVote’s Congressional Legislation Priorities

• FairVote supports current legislation that promotes instant runoff voting, proportional voting, direct election of the president, nonpartisan redistricting and protections of the right to vote. We oppose bills that would prevent majority requirements in presidential races.
  
  
• Related Links
• FairVote’s summary of congressional legislation priorities

Protecting Democracy in Louisiana

• In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana voters and election administrators face numerous challenges that threaten to undermine the state’s democratic processes. FairVote calls for multimember districts with proportional voting systems, expansion of its current use of ranked ballots for overseas voters to include displaced Hurricane Katrina victims and federal agency involvement in seeking accurate and complete voter rolls.
  
  
• Related Links
• FairVote’s recommendations for fair elections in Louisiana

IRV: Takoma Park Ballot Measure, Citywide Test in San Francisco

• The city council of Takoma Park (MD) voted unanimously to place a ballot measure on the November 8th city election ballot on the question of whether to implement instant runoff voting (IRV) for future city elections. Meanwhile, San Francisco is gearing up for its first citywide IRV election for three offices after its extremely successful initial IRV elections in November 2004. IRV also won endorsements recently by the Democratic Party in Iowa and California.
  
  
• Related Links
• Takoma Park for IRV
• New exit poll analysis of San Francisco’s 2004 elections

Non-majority winners in American elections

• FairVote has updated its summary of non-majority winners in our highest offices. Nearly half of governors won a primary or general elections with less than half the votes, as did many Members of Congress and a third of our presidents.
  
  
• Related Links
• FairVote’s Non-Majority Winners in America

Carter-Baker Commission Report: Pro’s and Con’s

• The September release of recommendations by a reform commission headed by Jimmy Carter and James Baker met with mixed reactions and concerns from some election reformers about photo identification requirements at the polls. FairVote applauds the commission for its endorsement of a more inclusive presidential primary schedule, high school civic education, nonpartisan elections officials, verified voting and articulating the goal of universal voter registration. But the report falls short in the breadth of its recommended reforms. It stays silent on many essential reforms and turns away from the ideal of nationwide standards for running federal elections founded on a constitutional right to vote, instead accepting the familiar state-by-state patchwork of rules.
  
  
• Related Links
• Rob Richie and Steven Hill in the Hartford Courant
• FairVote’s Ryan O’Donnell in the Orlando Sentinel

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