State Legislatures Encourage Civic Participation
States introduce bills to increase youth voting
A number of state legislatures have introduced bills that aim to
increase youth voter participation. Proposals have included lowering
the voting age, allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections and
advance registration for 16-year-olds. Minnesota introduced a constitutional amendment lowering the voting age from 18 to 16. In Connecticut, the legislature is considering two bills (HJ 7, HJ 11) that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 before the general election. Three states--California, Maryland and
Pennsylvania--want to promote youth voter participation through advance
registration and by establishing "high school voter weeks" twice a
year. Strengthening civic education in high schools was considered (but
did not make it through committee) in Florida and Indiana, but a FairVote-backed civic education bill in Maryland was signed into law.
Read more about FairVote's 100% Youth Voter Registration Project Read about FairVote's high school voting curriculum, Learning Democracy |
One-Two Punch Lands Squarely on Winner Take All Presidential Elections
North Carolina and California Senates Pass National Popular Vote
In an exciting electoral double-whammy, the National Popular Vote bill passed the State Senate in both North Carolina and California on May 14, 2007. California's SB 37 was approved by the Senate Committee on Elections, Redistricting, and Constitutional Amendments on March 21, 2007, and passed on final reading by a vote of 22-14. North Carolina's SB 954 passed by a vote of 30-18. Eyes now turn to the House in both states. In little over a year since its kick-off, the NPV bill has demonstrated some fancy footwork, passing a total of 10 legislative chambers. The number of legislative supporters has also continued to grow, recently surpassing 350 sponsors in 47 States.
[ AP Story on North Carolina ] |
Big Week for IRV
Three Legislative Advances and an Important Endorsement
The week of May 7th, 2007, was a big week for IRV across the country. The Illinois Senate approved legislation that would adopt ranked ballots for military and overseas voters. The Vermont House Government Operations Committee approved a bill, already approved by the Senate, to adopt IRV for U.S. Senate and House races in Vermont. In California, the Assembly Appropriations Committee approved legislation that would give local governments the option of using IRV.
In other exciting news, former Illinois congressman John Porter of the Brookings Institution's Opportunity '08 project released a position paper promoting IRV as a means to encourage voter participation.
[ Opportunity '08 election reform factsheet ] |