Flurry on Smith Hill means the end is nearBy Katherine Gregg, Steve Peoples, Cynthia Needham and Edward Fitzpatrick
Published June 20th 2008 in The Providence Journal
Excerpt:
...But it was a national political question of electing presidents by the popular vote that provoked the most vigorous House debate.
After clearing both chambers, the bill would allow Rhode Island to join a compact of states, who pledge their delegates to whoever wins the national popular vote. Legislators argued passionately for more than an hour on whether the change would help make Rhode Island more — or less — relevant on the national political stage. In one of the closest votes of the night, they voted 36 to 34 to approve the change.
Supporters argued that the “one person, one vote” concept creates a more democratic system while getting presidential candidates to pay attention to states such as Rhode Island that fall far beyond the so-called “battleground states” such as Florida and Ohio that are crucial under the electoral college system .
But critics on both sides of the aisle warned that abiding by the national popular vote wouldn’t get rid of the electoral college, it would simply force Rhode Island to join a compact, which if it swings in favor of a Republican candidate, would force this Democratic state to vote Republican.
“This is absolutely trashing a good system for no good reason at all,” Rep. Robert Jacquard, D-Cranston, said.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.