Rob Richie

(As a sequel to our post about U.S. House elections, Sheahan Virgin and I took to the U.S. Senate.)

Despite having one of the Senate's more conservative voting records, Dick Lugar (R-IN) has not been a partisan ideologue. His recent landslide primary defeat to Tea Party-backed challenger Richard...

I wrote this piece with FairVote democracy fellow Sheahan Virgin. We wrote it before the U.S. Senate primary in Indiana in which 35-year Senate veteran Richard Lugar was ousted in part due to a history of cooperative policymaking with Democrats, particularly on foreign policy.

Pennsylvania's primary last month lacked the...

I wrote this piece with FairVote democracy fellow Sheahan Virgin.

Rick Santorum's decision to suspend his campaign effectively handed the Republican nomination to Mitt Romney. Although several states have yet to vote and Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul remain in the race, Romney is sure to win an easy victory...

My FairVote colleagues and I have released a new analysis of votes cast in the Republican nomination contest to date and how those votes have translated into delegate totals. FairVote compared the current New York Times tally of delegates to what it would be in two...

I direct FairVote, a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization known for its innovative analysis and state and local successes in advancing electoral reforms like instant runoff voting, the National Popular Vote plan, proportional representation and steps toward universal voter registration and a right to vote in the Constitution.

We are...

This post was largely written before Super Tuesday's results, but is prophetic. The 10 contests on Super Tuesday represented a very good day for Mitt Romney in winning delegates, but were far from decisive -- with particulars of concern for his campaign ranging from losing by more than 20% to...

This November's presidential election will present a stark choice between President Barack Obama and a Republican challenger, and voter turnout analysts predict a decline in voter turnout from our 62 percent turnout of eligible voters in 2008.

Voter motivation is one reason why American turnout lags...

With the completion of the South Carolina primary on Saturday and Newt Gingrich's win, it is clear that interest levels in the state and its residents have dwindled. Prior to primary day, the preferences of South Carolina voters were of intense interest to the nation -- and of course to...

The national media is in a frenzy about the Republican contest in tonight's Iowa caucuses. Unfortunately, most journalists seem to be getting the story wrong -- and a key reason is not understanding or even thinking about the rules and their implications.

First, we shouldn't obsess over who...

Today I reviewed all 121 entries posted on the FairVote.org blog this year. It's a good reminder about how busy we've been and how insightful FairVote staff, colleagues and interns so often are. It's also exciting to realize that what's been published represents only the tip of the...

My colleague Elise Helgesen and I wrote an earlier version of this post for State of Elections, an excellent resource from William and Mary's Election Law Society. FairVote regularly posts new super-district maps in our Fair Voting Plan series.

The battle over legislative redistricting in states...

This month many Americans had a chance to vote in state and local elections. FairVote was particularly focused on the first-ever use of ranked choice voting (RCV, or "instant runoff voting") in Maine's biggest city of Portland, along with RCV elections in St. Paul (MN), San Francisco (CA), Cambridge (MA),...

It's a year to the 2012 presidential nomination. Once again, our political leaders are rolling the dice with the American people. Rather than pursue statutory solutions to potential electoral landmines, they've left intact a set of electoral rules that aren't designed for elections where voters have more than two choices...

President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign is already well underway. His early hires are the latest evidence of the negative effects of current state rules governing the Electoral College.

As background, Obama is unlikely to face a challenge for the Democratic nomination, meaning that as a candidate he can start...

Video of the day: Vermont governor signs the National Popular Vote legislation, with commentary from a range of backers of the proposal.

Full minute: Republican political guru Karl Rove has a new Wall Street Journal commentary analyzing the 2012 presidential election and the role of the...

Democracy link of the day: Redistricting as it should be in Indiana (and the United States).

News summary: British referendum on alternative vote expected to uphold status quo... Florida legislature passes controversial voting measure... Gubernatorial veto of Missouri redistricting plan overturned and Utah Democrats back consideration of super...

Video of the day: Fair voting according to cats, as clever video compares the alternative vote (instant runoff voting) and first past the post (plurality voting).

Voting thumbnails of the day: California Top Two race on Tuesday reverses first-round outcome -- a more democratic result that won't...

There is a lot of valuable news and analysis that flows into my inbox in the course of a day. I'm starting a new feature where regularly I will share a few thoughts and links that caught my eye -- with the expectation that this on average will take about...

On May 5th, British voters will participate in their second-ever national referendum, deciding whether to replace plurality voting for House of Commons elections with the alternative vote (AV). The referendum outcome remains up in the air, but we already know two losers: prime minister David Cameron, who has...

There aren't many opportunities to act like Matt Damon or Julia Roberts. But this month, they and their fellow Hollywood stars have been voting for the Best Picture Oscar with instant runoff voting (IRV) -- and you can too at FairVote's OscarVotes123.com and below. So far, The King's...