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FairVote - Center for Voting and Democracy is a non-profit organization based in Takoma Park, Maryland that provides information to the public about the impact of voting systems on political representation, proportional representation, and voter turnout. It was founded in 1992 by scholars, civic leaders, and former elected officials such as John Anderson, the former Illinois member of Congress who ran for president in 1980. Since FairVote's founding, Rob Richie has served as its executive director and lead organizer.
FairVote advocates for greater use of Instant-runoff voting in single-winner elections and Single Transferable Vote systems and other forms of proportional representation in multiple-winner elections. It also issues reports on legislative redistricting and competition in U.S. Congressional elections.
In 2003, FairVote launched the Democracy USA initiative, which seeks to initiate greater cooperation and coordination among pro-democracy organizations.
=Projects and Initiatives=
Right to Vote Initiative
Most people are not aware of the fact that U.S. citizens are not guaranteed a constitutional right to vote. Of 111 democracies in the world, the U.S. is only one of 111 to not guarantee that fundamental right. That is why FairVote fully supports a constitutional amendment to secure the right to vote. The Right to Vote initiative also includes two subheadings; the 100% Registration Project and the Municipal Right to Vote Project.
100% Registration Project
Currently, the US is experiencing drastically low voter registration rates as well as low ballot integrity and access. FairVote's 100% voter registration program seeks to resolve these issues and develop clean and educated voter rolls by encouraging local governments and school systems to implement 100% youth voter registration programs. Ideally, this program would encourage states to lower the voter registration age to 16 and implement voter education programs in the school system in order to achieve our ultimate goal: to have young people leaving high school with knowledge of the voting process, a sense of self-efficacy, and registered to vote.Municipal Right to Vote Project
The Municipal Right to Vote Project uses the ideals of the Right to Vote Initiative and applies them to cities. By implementing reforms such as 100% registration, equal ballot access, and standard Voter ID laws; the project can achieve two goals. Primarily, cities will begin to represent the way democracy aught to be. This in turn will achieve the second goal, which is to influence the national government to adopt these reforms as standards.Presidential Elections Reform Project
FairVote advocates major changes to the presidential election system in the United States. From the primary process to the Electoral College the presidential elections are ridden with problems. The primaries are front-loaded and voters towards the tail end of the schedule have little to no say in the nomination process. When nominees are finally chosen they compete in an election that is geared towards 10-15 key battleground states. The other states receive few if any visits and nearly no TV or print advertisements. The only solution that can include the entire nation is to adopt a policy of making every vote equal. By using the national popular vote to elect the president, candidates will have to divide their funds and time across the entire nation.
IRV America
FairVote's IRV America program is working toward a country where IRV elections are the norm and not the exception. In an IRV election voters rank their candidates based on preference with 1 being their first precedence 2 being their second and so on. If none of the candidates reach a 50% threshold then a serious of simulated runoffs occur until there is one candidate whose votes constitute the majority. When voters rank candidates the results are cheaper election cycles, less negative campaigns, higher voter turnout and a solution to the "spoiler" problem in elections. One of our most active programs is the IRV Victories Campaign, which helps fund referendum campaigns to implement IRV in cities and counties nationwide.
IRVictories
The IRVictories campaign is an initiative to amend the manner in which we elect our political officials. The campaign involves the actual implementation of IRV in every level of the American election system. So far IRV has been adopted for mayoral elections in Burlington (VT) and is used for city elections in both Berkeley and San Francisco (CA). Recently ballot measures have been introduced in Oakland (CA), Pierce County (WA), and Minneapolis (MN). IRVictories looks to track these successes and prime the rest of America for the eventual introduction of the system.Voting and Democracy Research Center
FairVote's Voting and Democracy Research Center (VDRC) aims to provide the public with a better view towards the state of our democracy through extensive analysis of elections. VDRC programs, such as Monopoly Politics and Dubious Democracy, provide groundbreaking data in such diverse areas as rates of incumbent entrenchment and the effects of redistricting. Through presentation of this data, FairVote's reforms become even more imminent and essential. The VDRC programs indicate the precarious state of our democracy and pave the way for major reform efforts.
Monopoly Politics
Monopoly Politics is a biannual report released by FairVote that projects the outcome of races in the House of Representatives. This report has repeatedly shown that the partisanship of Congressional districts serves as a powerful measure in projecting winners in the House. The report uses data such as the number of terms an incumbent has served and how various districts voted in federal elections to make the projections. Monopoly Politics is unique in that it ignores conventional predictors used in forecasting elections. Some of the conventional variables include: the amount of money a candidate has raised, demographics of districts, poll data, and candidate endorsements. By excluding these variables from their report, FairVote highlights the role that partisanship and incumbency entrenchment play in deciding elections.Dubious Democracy
FairVote's annual ‘Dubious Democracy’ report provides a track record for the United States House of Representatives, the ‘people’s house, or so it was intended. In examining such data as incumbency rates, percentage of landslide victories, and rising voter apathy, FairVote’s data indicates a serious flaw in our most representative congressional body. ‘Dubious Democracy’ is about addressing the root causes of these systemic problems, beginning with our current ‘winner-take-all’ system. As our electoral system continues to offer fewer and fewer choices to voters and as voter disdain for the American ‘way’ declines, FairVote provides a plethora of reforms (proportional voting methods, public interest redistricting methods, etc.) to bring democracy to our democratic House.=Leadership=
Board Members
- John Anderson - Former Congressman from Illinois, and 1980 independent presidential candidate.
- Edward Hailes - of the Advancement Project
- Cynthia Terrell
- William Redpath
- Nikolas Bowie
- Erin Bowser
- Antonio Gonzalez
- Hendrik Hertzberg - New Yorker columnist
- Jesse Jackson Jr. - Congressman from Illinois
- Malia Lazu
- Laura Liswood
- Pete Martineau
- Ross Margulies
- Nina Moseley
- Clay Mulford
- Krist Novoselic
- Jamin Raskin
- William Raspberry
- Ken Ritchie
- Rashad Robinson
- Katherine Spillar
- David Wilner
Staff
Rob Richie is executive director of FairVote. David Moon is program director. Ryan O'Donnell is communcations director. Bill Shein is director of FairVote's Presidential Elections Reform Program. Ryan Griffin is a Voting and Democracy Research Center Fellow Christina Bernard is a Development Associate Rachel Lewis is Director of Outreach Jack Santucci is a Research Associate Usman Ahmed is a Press Assistant
=External links=
"FairVote"