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FairVote Blog
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Getting "Sick" of Swing States?
by Adam Fogel // March 18, 2010 // 0 commentsIs President Obama ignoring "spectator states" in his campaign-style push for healthcare reform?
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DOJ challenges merger between two largest voting equipment suppliers
by Geoffrey Porter // March 15, 2010 // 0 commentsLast week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and nine states filed a Lawsuit against Election Systems and Software (ES&S), the largest supplier of voting machines in the U.S., in response to the purchase, last year, of its biggest competitor, Premier Election Solutions.
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Term Limits Strengthen Colombia's Democracy
by Pauline Lejeune // March 10, 2010 // 2 commentsA couple of weeks ago, the Colombian Constitutional Court rejected legislation calling for a referendum that would have increased presidential term limits from two to three terms.
This decision prevents President Alvaro Uribe from running for a third straight term in office and sends a strong signal to the international community: the burgeoning Colombian democracy won’t be part of the autocratic wave in South America. -
Iraq’s 2010 Parliamentary Election - Part 3: The Electoral Process as a Stabilizer for the Country
by Pauline Lejeune // March 8, 2010 // 0 commentsYesterday, about 18.9 million eligible Iraqis had the opportunity to elect their 325-member Council of Representatives through an open-list proportional system. Counting is now underway and the first partial results could be released later this week. In the meantime, there is a lot to be said about how this Iraqi election is impacting the country’s political future.
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Iraq’s 2010 Parliamentary Election - Part 2: A Refined PR System to Improve Representation
by Pauline Lejeune // March 5, 2010 // 0 commentsThis Sunday, Iraq will elect its parliament for the third time in five years. For the first time, they will use an “open” list proportional system, which is seen as a major step to cement Iraqi democracy.
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Lessons from Burlington
by Rob Richie // March 4, 2010 // 7 commentsFairVote executive director Rob Richie reviews the recent IRV repeal referendum in Burlington, VT.
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FairVote Signs onto HAVA Funding Letter
by Adam Fogel // March 3, 2010 // 0 commentsFairVote signs onto a coalition letter asking Congress to fully fund the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
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FairVote testifies to Maryland Senate Committee
by Pauline Lejeune // February 26, 2010 // 0 commentsYesterday, the Maryland Senate Education, Health & Environmental Committee held a public hearing on several election bills. FairVote’s Right to Vote Director Adam Fogel testified in favor of two of the bills that are sponsored by Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-20):
- SB 292, which will set a uniform voter registration age of 16
- SB 293, which will establish a permanent absentee ballot list. -
Iraq’s 2010 Parliamentary Election - Part 1: Chronicles of a Struggle for Democracy
by Pauline Lejeune // February 24, 2010 // 0 commentsFairVote starts a series of comprehensive blog posts about the Iraqi 2010 parliamentary elections, focusing on how Iraq has been working on building an inclusive fair voting system by relying on proportional representation (PR) instead of winner-take-all.
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Remembering Karla Irvine: Fair Elections and Fair Housing Advocate
by Amy Ngai // February 23, 2010 // 0 commentsOn February 19th, the proponents of election reform and fair government lost an outspoken and fearless advocate. Karla Irvine, a founding member of FairVote, was 76 years old.