New York Times Letters: "The Forgotten Voters"By JOHN B. ANDERSON
Published July 10th 2003 in New York Times
To the Editor:
I applaud the efforts of Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Jim Leach to reform Congressional redistricting ("Redistricting, a Bipartisan Sport," Op-Ed, July 8). However, independent redistricting commissions should be the starting point but not the endpoint of a reform process. We need to recognize that political independents and third-party members represent roughly one-third of the American electorate.
Since passage of the "motor voter" registration law a decade ago, independents have registered in greater numbers than members of either major party in many jurisdictions. Regrettably, even "strong nonpartisan redistricting plans" will fail to recognize the independents.
It should be voters and not simply the lines of single-member districts that define and give true meaning to representation.
JOHN B. ANDERSON
Washington, July 8, 2003
The writer was an independent candidate for president in 1980.
I applaud the efforts of Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Jim Leach to reform Congressional redistricting ("Redistricting, a Bipartisan Sport," Op-Ed, July 8). However, independent redistricting commissions should be the starting point but not the endpoint of a reform process. We need to recognize that political independents and third-party members represent roughly one-third of the American electorate.
Since passage of the "motor voter" registration law a decade ago, independents have registered in greater numbers than members of either major party in many jurisdictions. Regrettably, even "strong nonpartisan redistricting plans" will fail to recognize the independents.
It should be voters and not simply the lines of single-member districts that define and give true meaning to representation.
JOHN B. ANDERSON
Washington, July 8, 2003
The writer was an independent candidate for president in 1980.
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.