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Everyone's vote should be equal when electing the president, no matter where they live. FairVote is a leader in the campaign to establish a national popular vote for president, and recommends that political parties establish a schedule and rules to promote all states having a meaningful vote in nomination contests.
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FairVote Sponsors Forum on Electoral College Reform
 FairVote’s Presidential Elections Reform Program has joined with the
American Political Science Association (APSA) to sponsor a half-day
forum, “The National Popular Vote Plan to Revamp the Electoral College.” Held during APSA’s 2006 annual meeting in Philadelphia, the “short
course” will be held Wednesday, August 30, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The forum, featuring some of the best-known scholars of our
presidential-election system, is free and open to the public. [ For More Information ]
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Victory for National Popular Vote in Colorado
New Endorsements Flow in as Momentum Builds
 The
National Popular Vote plan for states to join together to guarantee
election of the presidential candidate who wins the national popular
vote cleared the Colorado Senate on April 17th. Nationally, the drive for
legislation in all 50 states is well under
way. Bills have been introduced in California,
Illinois, Louisiana and Missouri. California and Missouri
have scheduled hearings for April 25, and the senate and house bills in
Illinois have 25 sponsors, including leading Republicans, Democrats and
independents. Meanwhile, there has been new editorial support, including from
the Minneapolis Tribune and columnists Molly Ivins and Jonathan Chait. [ Minneapolis Tribune, Jonathan Chait in the LA Times, Molly Ivins ]Profiles of Rob Richie's efforts in [ The Olympian ] and [ Seattle PI ]FairVote letters in the [ New York Times ], [ Tacoma ] and [ Pittsburgh ][ Powerpoint presentation at state legislators' conference (.ppt 535 kB) ][ National Popular Vote ]
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NY Times Gives National Popular Vote Effort a Boost
Uses FairVote's research to make the case
 The New York Times March 14th editorial gave an enthusiastic thumbs up
to the National Popular Vote (NPV) effort. As a major partner in NPV,
FairVote is proud to have its research used to build the case for a
national popular vote for the president. The Timeswrites: "Candidates have no incentive to campaign in, or address the
concerns of, states that reliably vote for a particular party. In
recent years, the battleground in presidential elections has shrunk
drastically. In 1960, 24 states, with 327 electoral votes, were
battleground states, according to estimates by National Popular Vote,
the bipartisan coalition making the new proposal. In 2004, only 13
states, with 159 electoral votes, were. As a result, campaigns and
national priorities are stacked in favor of a few strategic states.
Ethanol fuel, a pet issue of Iowa farmers, is discussed a lot. But
issues of equal concern to states like Alabama, California, New York
and Indiana are not."
[ Read The New York Times editorial ][ Read the Chicago Sun-Times endorsing editorial ][ See FairVote's Presidential Election Inequality ]
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August 10th 2009Commentary: A cure for the political nomination processCleveland Plain Dealer FairVote's Rob Richie and Paul Fidalgo offer a way to give everyone a say in presidential nominations while retaining the valuable state-by-state evaluation process. This piece also ran in McClatchy's newswire. July 13th 2009Albatross of U.S. democracyIndianapolis Star FairVote research is cited in support of the National Popular Vote plan in Indiana, because "every vote cast for president should be equally important and equally coveted, whether it originates in California, Connecticut or Crawfordsville." July 9th 2009Winner-take-all can elect a second-place presidentSan Diego Union-Tribune The founder of National Popular Vote lays out the shortcomings and injustices of the Electoral College system, and shows why the National Popular Vote plan is the right solution. May 17th 2009Why states should adopt the National Popular Vote plan for presidentSan Diego Union-Tribune FairVote's Rob Richie writes that the Electoral College deepens political inequality, and explains why the National Popular Vote plan is our best opportunity to ensure that every vote for president is equally valued. May 14th 2009Let'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.
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On
June 28th, the National Popular Vote Campaign won another victory in the state of California with
the passage of AB 2948 by the Senate Elections Committee by a
margin of 3-1.