Content Categorized with "Fair Voting/Proportional Representation"
81 - 90 of 199 results
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Dawning Digital Democracy
- Posted: August 12, 2011
- Author(s): Krist Novoselic
- Categories: Fair Voting/Proportional Representation, Home
If we see the new forms of association as a movement itself, then we are at the beginning of that rare moment of change.
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California Win for National Popular Vote: FairVote Reforms on the Move
- Posted: August 8, 2011
- Categories: National Popular Vote, Fair Voting/Proportional Representation, Home
California Governor Jerry Brown today signed the National Popular Vote plan for president. Five years after FairVote joined with other reformers to launch the effort, it is halfway to enactment. It is law in states representing 49% of the electoral votes necessary to govern the next presidential election.
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California: A Simulated Attempt at Super-Districts
- Posted: July 22, 2011
- Author(s): Super Districts, Jais Mehaji
- Categories: Fair Voting/Proportional Representation
Michael S. Latner and Kyle Roach from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo have written a thoughtful article on adopting proportional representation in California, based on a simulation-type analysis.
Their simulation deals with use of a proportional voting system to elect California’s 80 seat Assembly , echoing many of the points we have been making in our series of analyses of the value of the potential use of proportional voting in congressional elections in states such as Michigan and Louisiana. -
South Carolina: The Super District Alternative
- Posted: July 22, 2011
- Author(s): Super Districts, Jais Mehaji
- Categories: Fair Voting/Proportional Representation, Cumulative Voting, Redistricting
Redistricting ensures that political district lines reflect population changes in the U.S. Census every ten years so that each district has the same number of voters per seat in a district. South Carolina is in the midst of redistricting and, as with most states, it’s become complicated and increasingly controversial and partisan. As explained in our recent post on Michigan, FairVote proposes an alternative to the winner-take-all system that has plagued the redistricting process, and opened it up to gerrymandering, partisan bickering, and opportunism.
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Gerrymandering in Michigan and the Super District Remedy
- Posted: July 20, 2011
- Author(s): Super Districts, Jais Mehaji, Rob Richie
- Categories: Fair Voting/Proportional Representation, Redistricting
Controversies over redistricting in Michigan provide the latest evidence of the failure of winner-take-all, single member district rules. Winner-take-all elections inevitably represent many voters poorly and tempt partisans to gerrymander outcomes. The 1967 law mandating that states use them should be repealed so that states like Michigan can explore “super district” form of proportional voting to increase voter choice and fair outcomes.
FairVote's example of how super districts would work in Michigan show that every district easily can be made to be competitive and guarantee fair representation.
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Egypt Caretaker Government Passes Electoral Draft Law Amid Parties' Vehement Objections
- Posted: July 8, 2011
- Author(s): Jais Mehaji, Arab Spring Series
- Categories: Fair Voting/Proportional Representation, Middle East and Africa, Elections Worldwide
After Egyptians successfully overthrew Hosni Mubarak back in February, the military government which took over in the interim has pursued a difficult transition to democratic rule. Parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in September, and political parties and citizens alike have been very vocal about how they will be conducted -with one key conflict being the democratic opposition seeking a fully proportional representation voting system and the caretaker government wanting to keep half of seats elected by winner-take-all elections.
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Iowa's Laudable Redistricting Process - and the Super District Alternative
- Posted: June 27, 2011
- Author(s): Super Districts, Jais Mehaji
- Categories: Fair Voting/Proportional Representation
Iowa quite justifiably has earned much praise for its redistricting process, a largely independent one driven by criteria that doesn’t include protection of incumbents or partisan gain. Nevertheless, a review of its elections and this year’s debate about redistricting still highlight the value of forms of proportional voting in a “super district” that puts voters in control of their representation rather than those drawing winner-take-all election lines, however independently those lines may be drawn.
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FairVote's Redistricting Resources
- Posted: June 27, 2011
- Author(s): Joe Sroka
- Categories: Fair Voting/Proportional Representation, Redistricting
With the completion of the 2010 Census, state legislatures are now in the process of the decennial redrawing of congressional, state, and local electoral districts. The process of creating new boundary lines is highly partisan and often comes at the expense of voters. By gerrymandering districts, legislators and their political allies use redistricting to choose their voters instead of giving voters the opportunity to choose them. FairVote provides a number of resources and reports about the redistricting process, and potential improvements to the current system.
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AMPAS Modifies Best Picture Nomination Method, Maintains Proportional Voting Principles
- Posted: June 16, 2011
- Author(s): Oscar Votes 123
- Categories: Ranked Choice Voting, Fair Voting/Proportional Representation
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a long history of using innovative voting methods to select the nominees and winners of its annual Academy Award "Oscars". This month it announced changes in the way nominations for the sought-after Best Picture award will be determined. The Academy announced that, beginning next year, a modified system similar to choice voting will be used to select Best Picture nominees, with choice voting continued to be used to select five nominees in most other categories. It also announced that ranked choice voting (RCV, or "instant runoff voting" or "preferential voitng") willl continue to be used for the final vote for Best Picture.
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Egypt Inching its way down to Democracy
- Posted: June 16, 2011
- Author(s): Jais Mehaji, Arab Spring Series
- Categories: Fair Voting/Proportional Representation, Middle East and Africa, Research & Analysis, Elections Worldwide
Although the Arab Spring movement started in Tunisia, as I discussed earlier this week, the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt was the year’s most stunning development. As the most influential and populous nation in the Arab world, Egypt, both in times of war and peace, has often played a leadership role in the region. The political changes happening in Egypt will certainly reverberate strongly in the region. Now it is turning to the even-harder task of establishing an enduring democracy, which if successful, will set a standard for its neighbors.