Recent Commentaries on
Electoral Reform
Election 2000 has brought unprecedented attention to electoral reform. Please see our page
devoted to commentaries and media coverage
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Commentaries from 2000 (pre-election)
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Commentary by Rob Richie and
Steven Hill on the significant battle
for control of state legislatures -- and its significance for
redistricting and legislative elections for the next decade. |
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Commentaries on reforming the Electoral College by John Anderson
in USA Today, Steve Hill in Roll
Call, the Christian Science Monitor and
elsewhere,and by Burt Constable in the Daily Herald
. October-November, 2000 |
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New
commentaries on turnout and lack of competition: Lee Mortimer, a
founding member of the Center for Voting and Democracy, recently wrote
the following commentary. It has appeared in the Raleigh News and
Observer, Charlotte News and Observer, Houston Chronicle and other
publications. Related commentary by John Gear in the Lansing
State Journal and by Carl Weiser in
the Gannett News Service. |
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October
2000 New IRV commentaries
Olson piece in Roll Call, Richie and Hill piece in The
Nation, Tom Wicker column in TomPaine.com, Michael Lind column
in the New York Times, Eric Olson letter in the Washington
Post on instant runoffs for DC school board elections, John
Anderson piece the Detroit Free Press, Colorado Daily column. |
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Former top Bush advisor Pinkerton writes
about proportional representation: James Pinkerton, a Newsday
columnist who was a domestic policy advisor to President George
Bush, visited the Green Party convention in June. His column ���System
Stacked against Nader, Buchanan��� intelligently discusses the key
role that proportional representation plays in allowing a multi-party
democracy. |
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CVD Vice-President Matthew Cossolotto touts instant runoff voting
in Washington Post op-ed: On July 30, the Washington Post published
a commentary called "The Spoiler Factor" by Matthew
Cossolotto. The op-ed makes a strong case for states adopting runoff
voting for presidential elections. |
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"Blanket primary has other solutions,
and it's not Louisiana's"
Commentary by Steven Hill in Roll Call, July 24, 2000 |
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A win/win alternative to the blanket primary
Letter to editor by Janet Anderson in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
July 22, 2000 |
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New York Times commentary and Washington Post
letter tout instant runoff to eliminate "spoiler" dilemma: CVD
president John B. Anderson's 7/5/2000 commentary in the New York
Times and John Strawn's 7/6/2000 letter in the Washington Post suggest
that the plurality voting system is the real spoiler in this year's
election |
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May 24 commentaries from CVD: The politics
of guns and the November elections, by Rob Richie and Steven
Hill, and the advantages of
instant runoff voting, by Caleb Kleppner. |
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Two published letters and a radio commentary from CVD Rob Richie,
April 2000: Commentary on Elian Gonzalez and
the Electoral College on Pacifica radio and letters in New York
Times and Washington Post. |
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PR and Italy
-- Not What You Might Think: Critics of proportional representation
often tout Italy as a reason to oppose reform. In fact, Italy is
hardly indicative of how proportional representation systems work
-- and winner-take-all elections likely would be even more problematic.
See Steven Hill's recent published op-ed. |
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Electoral
Reforms Needed, Maryland 2000. When districts are drawn to insulate
legislators from competition, voters are robbed of having a choice.
by Eric Olson. Baltimore Times |
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Avoid
Costly Runoff Elections, A Better
Runoff, and The Instant Runoff. By IRV
Project Director Caleb Kleppner |
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April
Fool's Redistricting By
Matthew Cossolotto |
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Proportional
Representation: Next Step for Democracy Rep.
Cynthia McKinney; Roll Call, February 14, 2000
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Without
McCain, Will Independents Turn Out? By Rob Richie
and Steven Hill
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Reining
In Attack Politics By Rob Richie and Steven Hill
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ICANN:
the Secret Government of the Internet? by Steve
Hill |
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John
McCain: Going Independent? by Rob Richie and Steven
Hill |
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Look Who's Acting
Like the Microsoft of Politics, by Steven Hill and Rob Richie |
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John
B. Anderson's articles on reform have long been a feature of this
web site. He has been president of the Center since 1996. His most
recent speech was A Vision
For A More Muscular Democracy. 1/15/2000 |
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Three
commentaries by CVD cover proportional
representation and electoral competition, representation
of women, and voter turnout.
1/14/2000 |
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Commentaries from 1999 |
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Let's Try Runoffs by Michael Yaki and Mark Leno members of the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors. |
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A Third Choice leads us past the dilemma of color-blind versus
race-conscious remedies to America's racial inequities. Washington
Post commentary by William Raspberry 12/17/99 |
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No Contest, No Choice, a USA Today editorial, 11/03/99 |
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Uncontested Contests, Happy
Election Day, America! by Gail Collins, New York Times, 11/02/99 |
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A Lock on Elections in Virginia Washington Post commentary by
Rob Richie and Stephen K. Medvic "Why would the parties give up on
nearly two-thirds of the seats when a single seat change could shift
control of the legislature?" 10/31/99 |
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The Case for Modernizing an Outdated Institution
Rob Richie and Steven Hill. "No question, the Senate is a
unique institution." 10/30/99 |
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Electoral College By Rob Richie
"More than a third of presidential elections have been won with a
mere plurality of the popular vote."
10/29/99 |
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The Vancouver Columbian Endorses Amendment 1 to allow Instant Runoff Voting. 10/17/99 |
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Instant Runoff Is One Reform That Works By John B. Anderson and John Gear
10/6/99 |
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Resolving Buchanan's Dilemma By
Rob Richie and Caleb Kleppner 10/1/99 |
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County councils in Prince
Georges and Montgomery Counties Maryland may consider IRV to
fill council vacancies. Eric Olson 07/18/99 |
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Commentaries from 1998
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These Reforms Will Get Voters to the Polls. Jamin B. Raskin and Rob Richie. 09/13/98 |
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A compelling case for
using IRV in Congressional
Primaries in Massachusetts. Note that the candidate who won the
primary that year won with 23% of the vote. By George Goverman
and David R. Leslie. 09/01/98 |
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Get Your Election Results Right Here!, Steven Hill. 05/29/98 |
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Taxpayer-Financed Exclusion: The Supreme Court's
Latest Outrage, John B. Anderson. 05/19/98 |
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Streamlining runoffs, Rob Richie
and Steven Hill.
05/21/98 |
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How to Bind the Nation, Steven
Hill. 04/02/98 |
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Let the Voters Decide Their Representation, John B. Anderson and Rob Richie. 02/16/98 |
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The real tragedy of Sen. Feinstein's withdrawal
from the Governor's race, Steven Hill and Rob Richie.
02/02/98 |
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Fair Elections and Full Representation in the US, Rob Richie and Steven Hill. 01/27/98 |
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In Politics, Money Isn't the Root of All Evil, Rob Richie and Steven Hill.
01/22/98 |
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De-Clawing the Gerrymander,
Walter Hearne. 01/21/98 |
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Campaign finance reform's rejection need not spell
the end of reform, Rob Richie and Steven Hill.
01/13/98 |
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Commentaries from 1997
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To the Spoiler Goes the Victory?, Rob Richie and Steven Hill.
12/04/97 |
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Civil Rights Controversy Shows Need for Universal
Approach, Rob Richie and Steven Hill. 11/19/97 |
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Freeing Voters from "No Choice"
Elections, Rob Richie and Steven Hill.
11/14/97 |
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The Dinosaur in the Living Room,
Rob Richie and Steven Hill. 11/11/97 |
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Shhh... Don't Wake the Voters, John B. Anderson.
11/08/97 |
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A Cheaper, Better Way than Run-Offs, Rob Richie and Steven Hill.
11/05/97 |
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Did Christie Whitman Really Win? IRV Knows, Rob Richie and Steven Hill.
11/05/97 |
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Senate Hearings on Campaign Finances Missed the
Real Problem, Rob Richie and Steven Hill. 11/03/97 |
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Forging a Living Democracy, John
B. Anderson and Robert Richie. 10/31/97 |
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New York's Test for Republicans,
Rob Richie. 10/30/97 |
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Majority Rule: As Easy as 1-2-3,
Rob Richie and Steven Hill. 10/29/97 |
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Money Doesn't Buy Love -- And Perhaps Not Most
Elections, Rob Richie and Steven Hill. 08/09/97 |
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Case Closed: The Move to Fair Elections in Mexico
and Elsewhere, Rob Richie and Steven Hill.
06/11/97 |
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'Complicated' Is In the Eye of the Beholder, Rob Richie and Steven Hill. 06/09/99
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Commentaries prior to
1997 |
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Atlantic
Monthly: A Radical Plan to Change American Politics, Michael Lind. 08/92 |