By Rob Richie
Published November 5th 2008 in New York Times
Re “How Much Is Your Vote Worth?,” by Sarah K. Cowan, Stephen Doyle and Drew Heffron (Op-Chart, Nov. 2):
If a Wyoming voter is three and a half times more influential than a Florida voter, why has Wyoming been utterly ignored by the major party campaigns and Florida voters wooed incessantly with multiple visits and tens of thousands of campaign ads?
The reality is that the current Electoral College system values votes based on whether they are cast in swing states.
In 2004, 99 percent of campaign spending went to just 16 states. This year, 17 states have drawn 99 percent of major party candidates’ visits to states for campaign events since the party conventions.
Fortunately, there’s every reason to believe that by 2012 enough states will have adopted the National Popular Vote plan to enact a system where every vote is equal by whatever measurement. It couldn’t come a moment too soon.
Rob Richie
Executive Director, FairVote
Takoma Park, Md., Nov. 3, 2008
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.