May 19th 2009
Senate approves Connors bill to join National Popular Vote Pact
Rhode Island General Assembly

STATE HOUSE � The Senate today approved legislation to join Rhode Island into a pact with other states to ensure that the candidates who win the most votes nationwide in presidential elections are the ones who win the White House.

May 14th 2009
No more appointed senators
Baltimore Sun

FairVote's David Segal argues for an end to the filling of Senate vacancies by appointment, and supports a national movement to have those vacancies filled through democratic elections.

May 14th 2009
Let's Make Every Vote Count
The Nation

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the Nation magazine, highlights FairVote's research in an important piece on the "broad support" growing in the states for the National Popular Vote plan to elect the president.

April 24th 2009
Panel backs elimination of the electoral college
The Providence Journal

A national drive to change the way the president and vice president of the United States are elected has won the backing of a state Senate committee Thursday night.

April 19th 2009
Why not voters' education for teens?
The Knoxville News Sentinel

Jack McElroy makes the case for 16-year-old advance registration and civics ed classes for Tennessee youth.

April 9th 2009
States Move to Create Culture of Voter Engagement through Preregistration
TPM Caf�

Project Vote's Erin Ferns highlights FairVote's effort to pass 16 and 17-year-old pre-registration bills in Rhode Island and California.

April 8th 2009
Don't veto the vote
The Brown Daily Herald

The Brown Daily Herald endorses pre-registration.

April 2nd 2009
Legislature votes to let teens register early
The Brown Daily Herald

The Rhode Island General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of 16- and 17-year-old pre-registration.

March 31st 2009
Statewide election to fill state's U.S. Senate seat
The Brown Daily Herald

In the wake of scandals involving Illinois and New York Senate seats, the Rhode Island Senate and House of Representatives have voted to change state law so that a vacated U.S. Senate seat would be filled through a special statewide election.

March 25th 2009
R.I. Senate passes bill on U.S. Senate vacancies
The Providence Journal

The Rhode Island Senate has now approved its version of a bill to strip the governor of his power to appoint a replacement for a U.S. Senator who dies or leaves office for any other reason in mid-term, and require special elections instead.

March 18th 2009
RI lawmakers give early approval to bill allowing voters to elect US Senate replacements
The Associated Press

Rhode Islanders would elect their U.S. senators when an incumbent dies or leaves office unexpectedly under proposals that have gained new life since the controversy over President Barack Obama's old Senate seat.

March 18th 2009
Still Broken
The New York Times

The New York Times Editorial Board endorses a range of election reforms, including universal voter registration and national standards for election administration.

March 12th 2009
Matt Sledge: Notwithstanding budget crisis, R.I. mustn't cut civics position
The Providence Journal

RHODE ISLAND and America in general are in a fiscal crisis that also seems to be a crisis of government. In response, the Rhode Island Board of Regents plans to cut the sole statewide civics-education position, along with funding for civics professio

March 11th 2009
Senate vacancy bill OK'd in House
The Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE -- A bill that would strip the governor of his power to appoint a replacement in the event of a midyear U.S. Senate vacancy was passed by the House yesterday in a 64-to-6 vote and sent to the Senate.

February 8th 2009
Rep wants U.S. Senate vacancies filled by election
The Pawtucket Times

If the vacancy occurs after that, the seat will be filled during the November election that year. Matthew Sledge of the group Fair Vote RI told the committee that the bill “improves democracy."