Robert Richie - Executive Director
An expert on international and domestic elections and electoral reform,
Rob Richie has directed FairVote since its founding in 1992. Among his
activities at FairVote, Richie has:* been a guest on many radio and television programs, including C-SPAN, NBC News, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, NPR's "Talk of the Nation", "All things Considered" and "Fresh Air" and been a frequent source for print, radio and television journalists;
* published commentary in such publications as New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Roll Call, Nation, National Civic Review, Boston Review, Christian Science Monitor and Legal Times;
* co-authored two books, Every Vote Equal (2006) and Whose Votes Count (2001) and had his writings appear in seven other books;
* Spoken to scores of organizations, including at the annual conventions of the American Political Science Association, National Association of Counties, National Association of Secretaries of state, Unitarian Universalists and National Conference of State Legislatures and to the Voting Section of the U. S. Department of Justice, the Lincoln Day dinners of the Alaska Republican Party in Juneau and Anchorage and several groups of foreign dignitaries through the United States Information Agency;
* Worked with congressional and state legislative staff in writing numerous pieces of legislation;
* Testified in special sessions before charter commissions in cities in New York, Florida, Ohio, Texas and Michigan and before state legislative committees in Alaska, Vermont, Virginia and Washington;
* Helped organize eight well-attended national conferences on electoral system reform and worked with hundreds of state reformers supporting fair election methods;
* Toured New Zealand at the invitation of electoral reformers during a successful referendum campaign in that country in 1993 to adopt a proportional voting system; and
* edited FairVote's publications, such as its bi-annual analyses of congressional elections that have received prominent news coverage around the nation.
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1962, Richie graduated from Haverford College with a B.A. in philosophy in 1987. Before co-founding FairVote and becoming its director in 1992, he worked for three winning congressional campaigns in Washington state and for non-profit organizations in Washington and the District of Columbia. He is married to Cynthia Terrell and is the father of three children: Savanna, Lucas and Rebecca.
You can reach Rob Richie at: rr (AT) fairvote (DOT) org
See and Hear Rob Richie on the Air
Articles by Rob Richie
October 1st 1999Resolving Buchanan's Dilemma
Syracuse Herald, Charlotte News and ObserverMay 16th 1999
British Reforms May Reveal U.S. Future
Baltimore Sun
Rob Richie and Steven Hill comment on Prime Minister Tony Blair's efforts to modernize the United Kingdom's government, including the election reform of proportional representation.October 30th 1998
New York's Test For Republicans
FairVote's Rob Richie argues that his findings have shown that voters consistently vote for candidates of the same party as they did for the presidential election.September 13th 1998
These Reforms Will Get Voters To the Polls
FairVote's Jamin Raskin and Rob Richie argue that cumulative voting, instant runoff voting (IRV), and proportional voting are needed to reform our undemocratic election system.May 21st 1998
Streamlining runoffs
FairVote's Rob Richie and Steven Hill argue that the mud-slinging political strategy of campaigns will be eliminated with an instant runoff voting (IRV) system.[ Previous ] [ Next ]