Content Authored by Rob Richie
11 - 20 of 254 results
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Why Missouri Will Not Be a 2016 Presidential Campaign Battleground
- Posted: February 19, 2015
- Author(s): Claire Daviss, Rob Richie
- Categories: National Popular Vote, Presidential Elections, Home
For more than a century, Missouri was called the "bellwether state" for its tendency to swing between Democrats and Republicans. But Missouri's days as a battleground state appear to be over, as the state has become more Republican in every election since 1996. Read what Missouri can expect in the 2016 presidential election. -
Fuzzy Math: Wrong Way Reforms for Allocating Electoral Votes
- Posted: January 28, 2015
- Author(s): Claire Daviss, Rob Richie
- Categories: National Popular Vote, Presidential Elections, Home, All Reports
States have a constitutional obligation to decide how they will allocate their electoral votes during presidential elections. Almost all states currently use statewide, winner-take-all rules, which gives all of the state's votes to the winner of the statewide popular vote. But some states have considered alternative methods, such as the whole number proportional system and the congressional district system. We look at the effect these systems would have on presidential elections. Neither system promotes majority rule, increases competitiveness nationwide, or ensures voter equality.
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Michigan Electoral College "Reform" and the National Popular Vote
- Posted: December 2, 2014
- Author(s): Claire Daviss, Rob Richie
- Categories: National Popular Vote, Home
Today the Michigan Committee on Elections and Ethics met for the second time to hear testimony on a bill that would change the way that Michigan distributes its electoral votes. FairVote director Rob Richie weighed in, presenting important new analysis. -
Federal Primary Runoff Elections and Voter Turnout Declines, 1994 - 2014
- Posted: November 17, 2014
- Author(s): Robert Fekete, Rob Richie
- Categories: Ranked Choice Voting, All Reports
Many states currently use runoff election systems during primaries for statewide federal posts. However, the two-election runoff system leads to high turnout declines and a less representative second election, particularly if there is along time delay between the two elections.
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A Guide to Good Policy for States Considering Electoral College Reforms
- Posted: November 12, 2014
- Author(s): Claire Daviss, Rob Richie
State legislators may soon consider changing the way they distribute electoral votes in presidential elections. Should they distribute electoral votes by congressional district? Should they distribute electoral votes proportionally? We weigh the various options and find that the national popular vote plan is the strongest policy by far. -
People of Color in American Elections, 2014: Advances and Setbacks
- Posted: November 12, 2014
- Author(s): Amaris Montes, Rob Richie
2014 saw some key victories for candidates of color, along with some frustrating losses. The takeaway? The U.S.'s elected government at all levels still fails to reflect the country's diversity. -
Read FairVote’s Testimonies to Two State Government Reform Commissions
- Posted: November 10, 2014
- Author(s): Nathan Nicholson, Rob Richie, Drew Spencer
Ohio and Virginia present unique opportunities for redistricting reform. See FairVote's recommendations to bipartisan reform commissions in both states. -
Battlegrounds and Spectators: How Campaign Attention Relates to Voter Turnout
- Posted: October 31, 2014
- Author(s): Claire Daviss, Rob Richie
- Categories: National Popular Vote, Home
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Ranked Choice Voting in the Bay Area
- Posted: October 16, 2014
- Author(s): Grace Ramsey, Rob Richie
Ranked choice voting (RCV) ballots are already being cast by some early and absentee voters in the four Bay Area cities holding RCV elections this November. Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro, and San Francisco will all be holding RCV elections on November 4th. In light of the upcoming elections, we wanted to share a few facts about ranked choice voting. -
The Role of Cities in National Popular Vote Elections
- Posted: June 13, 2014
- Author(s): , Andrea Levien, Rob Richie
- Categories: National Popular Vote, Presidential Elections, All Reports
In debating options for reforming presidential elections in the United States, the most promising alternative to the status quo is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPV). But even though we use popular vote elections to select every member of Congress and all 50 governors, some NPV skeptics warn that its adoption would have a partisan impact on presidential elections. They fear that Democrats could increase their national vote totals by focusing resources on major metropolitan areas, while Republicans could achieve similar gains only by spreading their resources across more geographically dispersed, non-urban areas. This report challenges this argument in three ways.
In every presidential election, there are battleground states and spectator states. How does campaign attention affect voter turnout? We took a closer look at the causal relationship by focusing on states that have changed from battlegrounds to spectators and vice versa.