FairVote Blog
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Irish Convention Recommends Lowering the Voting Age
by Robert Fekete // July 8, 2013 //The Irish Convention of the Constitution has recommended that Ireland become the 18th nation in the world to allow people under 18 years old to vote - a reform that is also gaining traction on the local level in the U.S.
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Ireland Takes Election Reform Seriously with Convention on the Constitution
by Robert Fekete // June 28, 2013 //Last year the Irish Parliament decided to take a serious look at reforming their constitution, commissioning a citizen's assembly to examine their electoral system. The United States could learn from the Irish example.
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Rank the Vote: Comparing Voting in Ireland and the United States
by Robert Fekete, Rob Richie // June 24, 2013 //Since 1919, Ireland has used a form of ranked choice voting for all its public elections. When the Irish think of voting, they think about ranking candidates in their order of preference. But here in the U.S., our conception of voting is usually just picking our one favorite candidate. FairVote examines the lessons we can learn from ranked choice voting in Ireland.
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Testimony on Importance of Strong Voting Rights Act
by Mollie Hailey // July 18, 2013 //FairVote this week joined diverse organizations in affirming the continuing necessity of the fully implemented Voting Rights Act - the most critical piece of civil rights legislation.
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National Popular Vote Plan Poised to Pass Halfway Mark with New Win
by Andrea Levien, Rob Richie // June 14, 2013 //The National Popular Vote plan is poised to pass its halfway mark to implementation after both houses of the Rhode Island General Assembly passed the bill on June 13th with votes of 30-4 in the Senate and 41-31 in the House. The bill earned real bipartisan support, including more than 75% of members of each major party in the state senate.
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Bachmann Retirement Creates One More Uncompetitive District
by Matt Sommerfeld // May 29, 2013 //Michele Bachmann's retirement from Congress ensures that her district joins the vast majority of Congressional districts that will be uncompetitive in the 2014 election.
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Pakistan - Peaceful Transitions but Winner-Take-All Failure
by Elizabeth Hudler, Devin McCarthy // May 24, 2013 //Pakistan experiences a peaceful transition of political power, but its winner-take-all system threatens the country's democratic development.
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The Next Step in Expanding Democracy?
by Drew Spencer // May 20, 2013 //Recently, suffrage was expanded in Takoma Park, Maryland to include voters of ages 16 and 17. At the same time, New York City considered allowing documented residents to vote in local elections irrespective of citizenship status.
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Philippines Holds Elections Using Degree of Proportional Representation
by Jonathan Gerstell // May 17, 2013 //The Philippines, a former U.S. colony, held elections on Monday using a small degree of proportional representation that was recently expanded to include national parties by the Supreme Court.
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Help FairVote MN's Ranked Choice Voting Video Win Thousands of Dollars For Fairer Elections!
by Drew Spencer // May 15, 2013 //Today is the last day to show your support for ranked choice voting and FairVote Minnesota in the Looking@Democracy contest. Vote now!