November 3 highlighted controversies about multi-candidate races and non-majority winners in key races for governor in New Jersey and U.S. House in New York, drawing high-profile attention to instant runoff voting (IRV) as a solution, including in a widely-published oped by FairVote board member John B. Anderson and...

As gubernatorial campaigns in Virginia and New Jersey come to a close tomorrow , many of our savviest politicos are espousing the conventional wisdom that the results will serve as clues to national trends in 2010 and 2012. But the hard numbers show that recent votes for governor do not...

I was asked recently to provide regularly comment for The Hill's The Big Question. Last week I posted thoughts on what success might look like in Afghanistan, focusing on the value off building stronger democratic institutions, and President Barack Obama's delicate dance of political positioning.

Yesterday's...

On Sunday, amidst some disappointing vetoes, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a voter registration bill that allows 17 year olds to pre-register to vote. With the governor's signature, California becomes the eighth state to allow 16 or 17 year olds to pre-register, with registrations automatically becoming active when they...

Instant runoff voting (IRV) is gaining support in the United States, particularly as a means to replace runoff elections that double the costs of administering elections and running for office and that typically result in large disparities in turnout between rounds and sharply negative campaigns in the final runoff. Voters...

Yesterday the United States' largest voting equipment vendor, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), announced the purchase of Premier Election Solutions, our nation's second largest vendor, and a product of the Diebold Corporation's North American operations. If this sale goes forward, ES&S will control a huge majority of the voting...

There's good news from Hollywood for electoral reformers ready to open up American elections to more choices and maximize turnout when people elect their leaders: the Oscar for best picture will be selected by instant runoff voting (also called "preferential voting" and "ranked choice voting").

The Academy of Motion...

The impressive outpouring of condolences for Sen. Ted Kennedy in the wake of his death this week is remarkable to see. While an unabashed liberal Democrat, Sen. Kennedy came from an older era when Members of Congress actually could get along with one another -- and reach across the aisle...

Sarah Palin's surprise announcement today that she will step down this month as Alaska's governor has stirred a firestorm of conjecture about her motives and political prospects.

There is one particularly concrete consequence, however: she will be the third woman governor to leave office since the November elections in...

The San Francisco Bay Guardian's long-time editor Tim Redmond had an important scoop last week: the downtown business community is contemplating an assault on San Francisco's instant runoff voting (IRV) system. At a June 18th strategy meeting, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce and several other downtown...

The Washington Posttoday has a telling front page news story: "Obama's travel mixes policy, politics: States with close electoral results getting most of his visits." The article is a stomach-churning revelation about why our current Electoral College system is such a disaster for upholding the principle of political equality...

The Washington Post editorial page has been a powerful voice for a simple principle: all U.S. Senators should be elected, just as all U.S. House Members have been elected since the approval of the U.S. Constitution. On June 8th, the Post did an excellent new http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/07/AR2009060702018.html">editorial: "Sen. Roland Burris...

The Washington Post has a history of some of the nation's strongest political reporting, but its 2009 analysis of the politics of upcoming gubernatorial elections has a troubling pattern. The Fix reporter Chris Cillizza and long-time stalwart Dan Balz certainly know their politics, but too often assess upcoming gubernatorial elections...

My colleague Paul Fidalgo wrote a blog post today over at the FairVote blog that I thought timely to share. You can see a range of new posts there on timely topics.

Following what should have been a well-attended gubernatorial primary in New Jersey this week (but most...

The "special relationship" between the United Kingdom and its former colony the United States can extend to the countries' respective politics. British prime minister Margaret Thatcher achieved power just before Ronald Reagan was elected president with similar messaging, while in the 1990s Bill Clinton and Tony Blair both won with...

My colleagues prepared this excellent analysis that I wanted to share here. See our Innovative Analysis here.

Facts in Focus:

States considering legislation this year to expand opportunities for young voters: 15
States considering advance voter registration for young people: 7

Number of votes in favor...

My colleague Paul Fidalgo and I circulated this recently. If these sorts of analyzes are of interest, see our archive and consider subscribing.

Facts in Focus

* Rate of valid ballots cast in last two mayoral elections with IRV, in Aspen (CO) and Burlington (VT): Greater than...

Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to switch parties in this 2010 bid for re-election will draw most attention for its immediate impact on President Barack Obama's legislative agenda in Congress. Once Al Franken takes his Senate seat from Minnesota, as seems increasingly likely, Republicans no longer have enough votes on their...

Voters Unite's John Gideon, the indefatigable chronicler of problems with election administration, for nearly six years produced the Daily Voting News. [Note -- original post incorrectly said three years] Last night John died at age 62. Brad Friedman has a moving tribute to him on Bradblog. You can also...

Iowa governor Chet Culver has announced that he opposes the National Popular Vote plan for president despite growing support for it in his legislature. According to the Des Moines Register, Culver said this week that "If we require our Electoral College votes to be cast to the winner of...