DOCSLIB.ORG

Should the Electoral College Count?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Should the Electoral College Count? [ABCDE] VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 Should the Electoral College Count? GRAPHIC BY FARHANA HOSSAIN—THE WASHINGTON POST INSIDE Article II Distribution Improve on Red The Debate of Electoral vs. Blue 4 6 College Votes 9 12 November 23, 2004 © 2004 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 An Integrated Curriculum For The Washington Post Newspaper In Education Program Should the Electoral College Count? What’s It About? Lesson: Six weeks after voters On the first Monday after the http://www.archives.gov/federal_ have indicated their choice for pres- second Wednesday in December, register/electoral_college/ ident and vice president, electors electors meet together in their U.S. Electoral College meet to cast their ballots. Why did states and D.C. to vote by ballot The U.S. National Archives and the writers of the U.S. Constitution for president and vice president. Records Administration provides a devise the Electoral College and Six original Certificates of Vote, thorough background on the Electoral are electors still necessary? listing all persons receiving votes College. In addition to the FAQs, Level: Middle to high for president and for vice president, Subjects: Government, must be prepared by the electors. sections include “How Electors civics, history If a candidate for either office Vote,” “Electoral College Calculator” Related Activity: Language does not receive a vote, his or her and “Historical Election Results.” arts, mathematics name is not listed. More infor- Teaching resources include NARA mation about the requirements lesson plans and links to other sites. National, state and local elections can be found at www.nara.gov. lend themselves to a look at the Not until passage of the Twenty- http://www.pbs.org/elections/kids/ requirements, process and impact third Amendment in 1961 did D.C. By the People: Election 2004 of elections. This is the third of residents have the right to vote in PBS created activities to involve young five online guides that focus on presidential elections. Regardless people in the voting process. From the the broad question: Whose vote of its population, D.C. receives “Teachers” section select the lesson plan really counts? In this guide, we three electoral votes, the same examine the Electoral College. as the least populated states. for “Is the Electoral College Out of Date?” Established by the Founding Academic standards of Maryland, Fathers as a compromise between Virginia and D.C. that apply to the http://jceb.co.jackson.mo.us/ election of the president by activities in this guide are provided. fun_stuff/electoral_college.htm Congress and election by popular The following national standard The Electoral College vote, the Electoral College today for history is also applicable. Jackson County, Missouri, provides is composed of 538 electors. The Standard 5: The student engages an easy-to-understand history and procedure by which the electors in historical issues-analysis and changing designs of the Electoral vote was changed with the Twelfth decision-making. The student is College, the process of selecting Amendment in 1804—no longer able to propose alternative ways of electors, and a fascinating collec- would a vice president be of a resolving the problem or dilemma tion of “historical curiosities.” rival party or two members of the and evaluate each in terms of same party not know who was ethical consideration, the interest of president and who vice president. the people involved, and the likely http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/ The process for selecting elec- consequences of each proposal. treasures_of_congress/page_7.html tors varies throughout the United This guide suggests some ways The House Selects a President States. Generally, the political to use the materials included. National Archives page includes the parties nominate electors at Your students may be encour- tally sheet of electoral votes cast at the their state party conventions or aged to read The Post for more 1801 meeting of the Electoral College. by a vote of the party’s central coverage of the Electoral College. committee in each state. In Maine http://www.socialstudies- and Nebraska, two electors are Capitalize It or Not? forkids.com/articles/govern- chosen by state-wide popular vote The Associated Press Stylebook ment/theelectoralcollege.htm and the rest by popular vote in and dictionaries agree that congressional districts. You might Electoral College should be capital- The Electoral College ask your students if they know ized, and words and phrases such as Social Studies for Kids provides how their electors are selected elector and electoral votes should basic information on the process and who these individuals are. and a look at the elections of CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 1800, 1824, 1876 and 2000. 2 November 23, 2004 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 An Integrated Curriculum For The Washington Post Newspaper In Education Program CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 is still applicable today? How In the Know might they change the process? not be capitalized. Although The Three opinion pieces are included Amendment: A formal revision of, addi- Washington Post does not capitalize in this guide: “The Non-College tion to, or change to the Constitution Electoral College in most sections Try,” a Washington Post edito- of the newspaper, we will follow rial; “Improve on Red vs. Blue,” Direct Popular Vote: A majority of the conventional use in this guide. a commentary by Post columnist William Raspberry; and “Repair the the votes cast by U.S. citizens Discover How It Works Electoral College,” by guest colum- Give students “How the Electoral nist Peter Shane. Each presents a Electors: A body of people selected by College Works.” This graphic different perspective. These may each party within a state that is numerically appeared in the Nov. 2, 2004, Post. be read as homework, summarized Note the example of how a “tie” for plan presented, evaluated and equal to the state’s congressional delega- vote might occur and the consti- discussed in class. Or the class tion, representatives plus senators. tutional answer to that situation. may be divided into three groups You may also wish to use “Electoral with each group receiving one Electoral College: The system for the elec- Votes in Proportion.” Each square of the opinion pieces. Their task tion of the president and vice president of represents one elector. How does is to determine the perspective this map change students’ perspec- given, list the pro-con sides and the United States. It is the collective name tive? Does every vote count? then argue for it in a class discus- for a group of electors nominated by political “There is no constitutional sion. Use “The Debate About parties within the states and popularly elected right for individual citizens to vote the Electoral College System.” for president. The framers of the who meet to vote for those two offices. Constitution chose not to estab- Study Rights lish a national standard for voter In this activity, students will Framers: The group of people who eligibility or participation in presi- learn why the Electoral College drafted the Constitution in 1787 dential elections. Individual states was created, how the Electoral can choose their electors through College functions today, and Proportionality: A method of counting votes a popular election—or not,” prospects for the future of the states Linda Monk in The Words Electoral College by debating where the Electoral College votes are allocated We Live By. “Beginning with and voting on the issues. according to the percentage of the popular Pennsylvania in 1788, an increasing Distribute “The Electoral vote each candidate wins. (For example, if number of states gradually allowed College: History, Present and citizens to vote for presidential Future.” Ask students to read it there are three candidates running in a state electors. Now all states do.” as homework or in class. Engage with 10 Electoral College votes, the winner Apply mathematics skills to students in a brief discussion to could take 6 votes, the second-place candi- explain the rationale for the ensure understanding of the issues. date could take 3 votes and the third-place Electoral College. Use the chart They may be given “Debate Over on page 14 or the map on page the Electoral College System” at candidate could win the remaining vote.) 15 in the October guide to record this time or when in groups. the 2004 election results. You Divide students into the Representative Democracy: The idea can use the numbers to deter- following groups of 2-4 students: that government is run by the people mine the result of the electors’ • Representatives from voting in December and to play a small state who favor the and the people elect representatives to some “what if” scenarios. current Electoral College; run the government on their behalf • Representatives from a large Get an Outlook state who would like to change Winner-Take-All: A method of counting Find out what students think the method of counting votes votes where the candidate who wins the about the Electoral College. Do they within the Electoral College; understand why it was created? most votes wins the entire allotment of Do they think that reasoning CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Electoral College votes for that state 3 November 23, 2004 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 An Integrated Curriculum For The Washington Post Newspaper In Education Program CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 If time permits, a representative a “lame duck”? If the result of the of the voters can explain to the class 2000 election had not been deter- Representatives who would like to how they reached their decision. mined by noon of January 20, 2001, eliminate the Electoral College entirely. who would have been president? • The remaining students in the Argue the Fate of the Electoral College class should consider and discuss the Ask students to write a persuasive 3.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Document Received by the CA 2Nd District Court of Appeal
    No. B295935 IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT ______________________________________________________ CITY OF SANTA MONICA, Appellant-Defendant, v. PICO NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION; MARIA LOYA, Respondents and Plaintiffs. ____________________________________________________________ BRIEF FOR FAIRVOTE AS AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS AND AFFIRMANCE ___________________________________________________________ Appeal from the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles The Hon. Yvette M. Palazuelos, Judge Presiding Superior Court Case No. BC616804 ____________________________________________________________ *IRA M. FEINBERG PATRICK C. HYNDS (Bar No. 64066) (pro hac vice pending) HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP JOSEPH M. CHARLET 390 Madison Avenue (pro hac vice pending) New York, NY 10017 HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP Telephone: (212) 918-3000 555 Thirteenth Street NW Fax: (212) 918-3100 Washington, DC 20004 ira.feinberg@hoganlovells.com Telephone: (202) 637-5600 Fax: (202) 637-5910 ZACH MARTINEZ (pro hac vice pending) HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP 1601 Wewatta Street, Suite 900 Denver, CO 80202 February 4, 2020 Telephone: (303) 899-7300 Counsel for Amicus Curiae Document receivedbytheCA2ndDistrictCourtofAppeal. Fax: (303) 899-7333 FairVote CERTIFICATE OF INTERESTED ENTITES OR PERSONS FairVote is a non-profit organization headquartered in Takoma Park, Maryland that advocates for fairer political representation through election reform. Since its founding in 1992, FairVote has been committed to advancing ranked-choice voting, also known as a single-transferable-vote (“STV”) method, in both single-member-district and at-large voting systems. It does so by conducting original research and advocating for electoral reforms at the local, state, and national levels. FairVote believes that implementing alternative at-large remedies, including ranked-choice and cumulative voting, will allow voters to elect representatives who better reflect their communities’ and society’s diversity.
    [Show full text]
  • Fair Representation Voting – Lessons from Cumulative Voting in Illinois by Rob Richiei Prepared for National Democracy Slam, April 22, 2015
    Fair representation voting – Lessons from cumulative voting in Illinois By Rob Richiei Prepared for National Democracy Slam, April 22, 2015 We have more than 7,000 state legislators in the United States today. The great majority of them are elected in single-winner districts, where each legislator represents a group of people that no one else represents in that legislative chamber. But that’s not true in Maryland, where I and most other Maryland voters have three representatives in the House of Delegates, and it didn’t always used to be that way nationally. As recently as the 1950’s, more than half of state representatives shared constituents with other representatives in multi-winner districts, at a time when voters in several states had more than one U.S. House Member as well. One of those states with multi-winner state legislative districts was Illinois. Every voter had three representatives in the Illinois House of Representatives. But unlike other multi-winner state legislative districts elsewhere Illinois did not have a winner-take-all rule. That is, 51% of voters were not able to control 100% of representation in the way that they can today in my three-seat district in Maryland. Instead, if more than a quarter of like-minded voters wanted a certain kind of representation, they had the voting power to win one of the three seats. A 51% majority would have the power to elect two of three seats, but not all three of them. This “fair representation voting rule” was based on providing voters with cumulative voting rights.
    [Show full text]
  • 2018 PRELIMINARY STAFF REPORT Cesar Perales, Chair Rachel Godsil, Vice Chair Carlo Scissura, Secretary Matt Gewolb, Executive Director
    CHARTER 2018 NYC REVISION COMMISSION 2018 PRELIMINARY STAFF REPORT Cesar Perales, Chair Rachel Godsil, Vice Chair Carlo Scissura, Secretary Matt Gewolb, Executive Director LETTER TO THE CHAIR Dear Chair Perales and Commissioners: I am delighted to present this Preliminary Staff Report, which I hope will serve as an informative and useful guide for the ongoing work of the 2018 New York City Charter Revision Commission. As you know, the Commission has been extremely active in engaging with City residents during the initial stages of this revision process. From listening to in-person public testimony to engaging experts at our four Issue Forums to our “Commissioner- in-your-Borough” events, we have engaged the public in a serious—and enlightening— conversation about governance in New York City. We have considered the entire City Charter to identify areas for potential revision. The Commission received hundreds of comments from New Yorkers from across the five boroughs. Advocacy and good government groups, elected officials, academics, and others have made meaningful contributions, and we will continue to consult with stakeholders as this process unfolds. The New York City Law Department, and others within City government, have provided invaluable guidance. We tremendously appreciate their efforts, as well as those of all of the other organizations and individuals who have provided assistance. Ultimately, this Preliminary Staff Report reflects a focus on civic life and democracy in New York City—a theme that is particularly appropriate and relevant in contemporary times. The report also introduces a new and exciting phase in our process—one that I am confident will include a robust public discussion and debate about the future of the City Charter.
    [Show full text]
  • C00053 6930 Carroll Ave., Suite 610 the Center for Takoma Park, MD 20912 - (301) 270-4616 (301) 270-4133 (Fax)
    STATE OF HAWAII OFFICE OF ELECTIONS 802 LEHUA AVENUE PEARL CITY, HAWAll 96782 www.hawaii.gov/elections KEVIN B. CRONIN CHIEF ELECTION OFFICER TESTIMONY OF THE CHIEF ELECTION OFFICER, OFFICE OF ELECTIONS TO THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY ON SENATE BILL NO. 2898, S.D.I RELATING TO AGREEMENT AMONG THE STATES TO ELECT THE PRESIDENT BY NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE March 20, 2008 Chair Waters and members ofthe House Committee on Judiciary, thank you for the opportunity to testify on Senate Bill No. 2898, S.D.I. The purpose ofthis bill is to allow states to determine the winner ofa presidential election by "national popular vote". The Office ofElections knows the contents ofthis bill and believes this bill presents a policy issue for the Legislature to resolve in its sound judgment. The Office ofElections remains available to provide, on request, any technical assistance arising from this bill. Please let us know ifthis office can be ofassistance to you. Respectfully Submitted: By Kevin Cronin C00053 6930 Carroll Ave., Suite 610 The Center for Takoma Park, MD 20912 - (301) 270-4616 (301) 270-4133 (fax) . info@fairvote.org Voting and Democracy www.fairvote.org Written Testimony of Rob Richie, Executive Director On Behalf of Hawaii's SB2898 SD 1, March 19,2008 Thank you very much for the opportunity to provide written testimony in support of SB 2898 SI, legislation to enter Hawaii into an interstate compact designed to guarantee the election of the presidential candidate who wins the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. My name is Rob Richie.
    [Show full text]
  • Intervenor Alaskans for Better Elections, Inc
    Scott M. Kendall Alaska Bar No. 0405019 J ahna M. Lindemuth Alaska Bar No. 9711068 Samuel G. Gottstein Alaska Bar No. 1511099 FILED in the Tri~! Courts Holmes Weddle & Barcott, P.C. State of Alaska Third ;.)1stnct 701 West 8th Avenue, Ste. 700 Anchorage, AK 99501 .APR U 2 202"1 Phone: 907.274.0666 Clerk of the Trial courts Fax: 907.277.4657 By______ Deputy Attorneys for Intervenor Alaskans for Better Elections, Inc. IN THE SUPERJOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT AT ANCHORAGE SCOTT A. KOHLHAAS, THE ALASKAN INDEPENDENCE PARTY, ROBERT M. BIRD, AND KENNETH P. JACOBUS, Plaintiffs, V. STATE OF ALASKA; STATE OF ALASKA: DIVISION OF ELECTIONS; Case No. 3AN-20-09532 CI LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR KEVIN MEYER, in his official capacity as Supervisor of Elections; and GAIL FENUMIAI, in her official capacity of Director of the Division of Elections Defendants. ALASKANS FOR BETTER ELECTIONS, INC. Intervenor. 61NTERVENOR ALASKANS FOR BETTER ELECTIONS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Intervenor Alaskans for Better Elections, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment Scott A. Kohlhaas, et al. v. State of Alaska, et. al., Case No. 3AN-20-09532 CI Page 1 of 39 I. INTRODUCTION After voters approved an election reform initiative in November 2020, Plaintiffs Scott A. Kohlhaas, the Alaskan Independence Party, Robert M. Bird, and Kenneth P. Jacobus ( collectively "Plaintiffs") filed this facial challenge seeking to invalidate the entirety of the popularly-enacted law. 1 Through this law, the public adopted comprehensive reforms to give voters and individual candidates more choices in elections, and to ensure that the candidates with the most support - regardless of party affiliation ( or lack thereof) - would represent Alaskans.
    [Show full text]
  • Top Four Primary Ranked Choice Voting for U.S
    Top Four Primary Ranked Choice Voting for U.S. House Elections What It Is and How It Performs on Key Democracy Criteria Prepared by Rob Richie1for the National Democracy Slam on April 22, 2015 Summary of Evaluation of Impact on Criteria Voter turnout and political participation: 3 Fair representation of parties and political groups: 2 Fair representation of racial minorities and women: 3 Electoral competition: 4 Reduction of polarization in Congress: 4 Impact Scale Definitions 1 No impact or negative impact 2 Low impact or impact likely only if coupled with other reforms 3 Moderate impact 4 High impact, including significant long-term impact 5 Problem substantially solved, even without other reform Description of Top Four Primary with Ranked Choice Voting The Top Four primary combines the best features of two electoral rules: the Top Two Primary and ranked choice voting. Congress could enact it nationally for congressional elections or individual states could adopt it for their federal and state elections. It involves three changes: Adopting ranked choice voting for both primary and general elections: Ranked choice voting (RCV, known also as “instant runoff voting” and “preferential voting”) is a voting method that can address a range of defects derived from our current electoral rules when more than two candidates run for an office. Voters are given the option to rank candidates in order of preference. Their vote is counted initially for their first choice. If no candidate has more than half of those votes, then the last-place candidate is eliminated. The votes of those who selected the defeated candidate as a first choice are then added to the totals of their next choice.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Women Matter Summit
    WWhhyy WWoommeenn MMaatttteerr LESSONS ABOUT WOMEN’S POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FROM HOME & ABROAD Summit Materials National Press Club, Washington, DC March 3, 2003 Crowne Plaza, San Francisco, CA March 6, 2003 WHY WOMEN MATTER SUMMIT THE WHITE HOUSE PROJECT 110 Wall Street, 2nd floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 785-6001 - 1 - Find further information about The White House Project and our other research and programs online at: www.thewhitehouseproject.org The White House Project would like to thank the following for their contributions to this Briefing Book: Ann Burroughs Georgia Duerst-Lahti, Beloit College Morgan Hanger & Erin Vilardi, WHP Interns Anat Maytal, former WHP Intern Karen O’Connor, Women & Politics Institute at American University Rob Richie and Steven Hill, Center for Voting & Democracy The Proteus Fund Women’s E-News Briefing Book for “Why Women Matter” Summit © 2003 by The White House Project Edited by Shauna L. Shames Research Director, The White House Project WHY WOMEN MATTER SUMMIT THE WHITE HOUSE PROJECT 110 Wall Street, 2nd floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 785-6001 - 2 - Table of Contents Introduction 3 The White House Project Overview 5 PART I: SUMMIT MATERIALS Why Women Matter Summit Schedules 6 Why Women Matter Speaker Biographies 9 Summit Partner Organizations 15 Summit Postscript 18 PART II: U.S. RESEARCH Women in Politics: National Statistics 20 Research Overview: Do Women in Local, State, and National Legislative Bodies Matter? 21 A Definitive Yes Proves Three Decades of Research by Political Scientists PART III: INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES & STRATEGIES Women in Politics: International Overview 26 Women in Politics: Country Rankings 28 Strategies for Equality: Initiatives from a Selection of Countries 33 PART IV: U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • A Vote Counted: Quantifying Voting Rights Through Proportional Representation in Congressional Elections
    University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository University of New Hampshire – Franklin Pierce Law Faculty Scholarship School of Law 1-1-2002 A Vote Cast; A Vote Counted: Quantifying Voting Rights through Proportional Representation in Congressional Elections Michael McCann University of New Hampshire School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/law_facpub Part of the Election Law Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Political Science Commons, and the Politics and Social Change Commons Recommended Citation Michael McCann, "A Vote Cast; A Vote Counted: Quantifying Voting Rights through Proportional Representation in Congressional Elections," 12 KAN. J. L. & PUB. POL'Y 191 (2002). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of New Hampshire – Franklin Pierce School of Law at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Law Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact sue.zago@law.unh.edu. A Vote Cast; A Vote Counted: Quantifying Voting Rights Through Proportional Representation in Congressional Elections Michael A. McCann CONTENTS I. Introduction: Reassessing "Winner-Take-All" Voting Systems ........... 191 II. An Alternative: Proportional Representation .......................... 193 III. The Benefits of Proportional Representation: Expanding the Democratic Experience for More Americans .................................... 194 IV. The Drawbacks of Proportional Representation: Tailoring a New Voting System to Address Legitimate Concerns ............................. 204 V. The Legal Viability of Proportional Representation in Congressional Elections ...................................................... 208 V I. Conclusion .................................................... 212 I. INTRODUCTION: Michael A. McCann received his J.D. from REASSESSING the University of Virginia School of Law in "WINNER-TAKE-ALL" 2002.
    [Show full text]
  • Lessons from the Use of Ranked Choice Voting in American Presidential Primaries
    Politics and Governance (ISSN: 2183–2463) 2021, Volume 9, Issue 2, Pages 354–364 DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3960 Article Lessons from the Use of Ranked Choice Voting in American Presidential Primaries Rob Richie *, Benjamin Oestericher, Deb Otis and Jeremy Seitz‐Brown FairVote, Takoma Park, MD 20912, USA; E‐Mails: rr@fairvote.org (R.R.), boestericher@fairvote.org (B.O.), dotis@fairvote.org (D.O.), jseitz‐brown@fairvote.org (J.S.‐B.) * Corresponding author Submitted: 22 December 2020 | Accepted: 6 April 2021 | Published: 15 June 2021 Abstract Grounded in experience in 2020, both major political parties have reasons to expand use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in their 2024 presidential primaries. RCV may offer a ‘win‐win’ solution benefiting both the parties and their voters. RCV would build on both the pre‐1968 American tradition of parties determining a coalitional presidential nominee through multiple ballots at party conventions and the modern practice of allowing voters to effectively choose their nominees in primaries. Increasingly used by parties around the world in picking their leaders, RCV may allow voters to crowd‐source a coalitional nominee. Most published research about RCV focuses on state and local elections. In contrast, this article analyzes the impact on voters, candidates, and parties from five state Democratic parties using RCV in party‐run presiden‐ tial nomination contests in 2020. First, it uses polls and results to examine how more widespread use of RCV might have affected the trajectory of contests for the 2016 Republican nomination. Second, it contrasts how more than three million voters in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries backed withdrawn candidates with the low rate of such wasted votes for withdrawn candidates in the states with RCV ballots.
    [Show full text]
  • Vote for the NAACP's National Popular Vote Resolution
    Fair Representation Voting and the Voting Right Act Excerpts from FairVote Amicus Brief in Montes v. City of Yakima A FairVote Policy Perspective January 2015 In October 2014, FairVote filed an amicus curiae (friend of the Court) brief in Montes v. City of Yakima, a case brought against the city of Yakima (WA) under the Voting Rights Act. You can read the brief here. Here are excerpts from the brief relating to fair representation voting. FAIR REPRESENTATION IS A LEGAL REMEDY FOR SECTION 2 LAWSUITS Fair representation voting allows a population greater than a certain threshold of votes (from just over 10% in a nine-seat election to just over 33.3% in a two-seat election) to elect a candidate of choice. Where racial minority candidates of choice can expect to secure support above that threshold, courts accept the use of fair representation as a remedy to vote dilution caused by winner-take-all at-large elections. The following two excerpts include a number of citations demonstrating the legality of fair representation voting as a remedy to vote dilution claims brought under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act does not require the use of single-member districts alone as remedies for violations of the Voting Rights Act. United States v. Euclid City School Bd., 632 F.Supp.2d 740, 751–52 (N.D. Ohio 2009) (adopting the defendants’ proposed at-large single vote plan over the plaintiffs’ proposed single member district plan). Courts routinely uphold systems that include at-large elections with fair representation voting as remedies for vote dilution claims.
    [Show full text]
  • The Way Democracy Will Be
    the consent of the governed the time to make real the promise of democracy FairVote 2006 FairVote ... EQUAL WE THE PEOPLE the way democracy will be... FAIRVOTE FairVote pursues an innovative, solution-oriented pro-democracy FAIRVOTEagenda. Our vision of an equally secure, meaningful and effective vote for all Americans is founded on the principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech: we are created equal, government is of, by and for the people and it is time to make real the our vision promise of democracy. Founded in 1992 and operating for many years as the Center for Voting and Democracy, FairVote is the leading national organization acting to transform our elections to achieve unfettered, fraud-free access to participation, a full spectrum of meaningful choices and majority rule with fair representation and a voice for all. Achieving our goals rests upon bold, but achievable reforms: a consti- tutionally protected right to vote, direct election of the president, instant runoff voting for executive elections and proportional voting for legislative elections. As a reform catalyst, we develop and promote practical strategies to improve elections for local, state and national leaders. 1 LETTER FROM OUR CHAIR 2-3 EFFECTIVE MEDIA & ADVOCACY 4-9 PROGRAMS 10 INDICATORS OF SUCCESS 11 FINANCIALS 12 DIRECTORIES letter from our chair... FAIRVOTE ...the way democracy will be That’s our new slogan. It captures how our optimistic vision of democracy is at the cutting-edge of reform, but grounded in achievable strategies that have always defined our organization.
    [Show full text]
  • VOTING and DEMOCRACY REVIEW the Newsletter of the Center for Voting and Democracy
    VOTING AND DEMOCRACY REVIEW The Newsletter of The Center for Voting and Democracy Volume II, Number 3 "Making Your Vote Count" July-August 1994 Cumulative Voting Thrust Into National Spotlight Judge's Order, Lani Guinier Draw Attention to Semi-PR System A federal judge's ruling, a new book individuals, and more votes for a Cumulative Voting's Benefits by Lani Guinier and The Center for candidate can do no more than elect that Cumulative voting (CV) has its Voting and Democracy's plan for North one candidate. And unlike preference benefits. Perhaps most importantly, CV Carolina's congressional districts have voting -- where voters have another can be described more simply than better drawn remarkable media attention to chance if their first choice doesn't help systems like mixed member proportional cumulative voting. Expressing his elect someone -- with CV "extra" votes representation and preference voting. personal view, CV&D's Rob Richie sees and split votes are wasted. With CV, voters have as many votes benefits in this semi-proportional system, (continued on page 4) as seats and can distribute their votes but not as a general reform. however they wish -- with the option of giving a candidate more than one vote. The American media have paid more The top vote-getters win; the more seats attention to proportional voting systems South Africa Shows PR to be filled, the smaller the group of in recent months than at any time in our Means Inclusion for All voters that can help elect a candidate. history. It all began when University of In South Africa's all-race elections Easy to describe, CV also is easy to Pennsylvania law professor Lani Guinier in April, over 99% of voters helped use.
    [Show full text]