State Full Representation Advocacy Groups

• California: Californians for Electoral Reform. CFER has now been working for full representation for a decade and has a regular newsletter, meetings and local chapters.  You can reach CFER by calling the local number in your area: 510-527-8025 or 415-681-2580) or  e-mailing any questions to [email protected]

• Illinois: Midwest Democracy Center. A Chicago-based membership group that advocates for electoral reforms to make our governments more democratic and more representative. They include: cumulative voting for the Illinois House of Representatives in three-member districts so everyone (including political minorities) have a voice, instant runoff voting, same-day voter registration. One particular project is Illinois Citizens for Proportional Representation, which pushed to restore cumulative voting for the Illinois House of Representatives and adopt full representation for local elections. MDC can be reached at (312) 587-7060.

• Minnesota: Fairvote Minnesota   FairVote Minnesota is a coalition of concerned citizens formed to educate voters throughout the state about the advantages of other ways of voting, especially Full Representation systems. FairVote Minnesota can be reached at 612-724-5540.

• Washington:  Washington State Citizens for Proportional Representation .  Supports: amending Seattle's City Charter to require choice voting for city elections; state legislation which would apportion our state's electoral college votes based on our state's popular vote for president; maintaining an active "Speaker's Bureau;" holding monthly meetings.  Please contact us at: P.O. Box 20534, Seattle, WA 98102.  Message phone: 206-366-2158.  Fax: 206-285-2460. E-mail: [email protected]

• California:  California Instant Runoff Voting Coalition.  An action-oriented site that is campaigning for more of the successful local ballot measures in California (like Oakland, Santa Clara County and San Leandro County) as well as state legislation.
• Florida: Citizens for Instant Runoff in Florida a statewide group working in Florida to establish majority winners for election through the implementation of IRV.
• Washington State:  IRV initiative campaign in Washington A statewide group working in Washington to implement majority rule. In 1999, reformers backed a sucessful initative on IRV in Vancouver, Washington .
• Utah: Fairvote Utah.  A coalition promoting instant runoff voting for public election at local, state and federal levels in Utah; in political conventions; and in schools, companies and private organizations.
• Massachusetts:  Fair Vote Massachusetts is working for instant runoff voting and full representation in Massachusetts. Mass IRV focuses on instant runoff voting in the state.  Mass Vote has a broad pro-democracy agenda that includes full representation and IRV.  MassIRV is a non-partisan coalition of Massachusetts citizens for Instant Runoff Voting. They also have a listserv which you can join.
• Michigan: F-IRV: Ferndale Residents for Instant Runoff Voting. Coalition of Ferndale, Michigan residents advocating intant runoff voting.
• New York:  NYS-IRV :  Citizens for Instant Runoff Voting in New York State. NYS-IRV disperses information in support of adopting IRV for all New York State primaries and local elections.
• The Independent Progressive Politics Network  promotes full representation, instant runoff voting and other reforms.
• InstantRunoff.com  A web-based resource for instant runoff voting advocates around the country. You can find news of IRV activity in each state here. The site offers free email forwarding for @instantrunoff.com addresses -- just request a name with a short note in an email. It is a project of the Midwest Democracy Center
• Americans for Real Majorities This is a feisty group that is calling on the CBS network to use a better voting system for their reality TV show "Survivor." They were hoping that when the show moved to Australia for the sequel, they would have left the primitive plurality voting system back on the island and picked up the Australian system of instant runoff voting.
• National Association of State PIRGs  These aggressive state-based reform organizations launched this website to spread the message on the need for majority rule and an end to wasted votes. It's called VotersDecide.com.
• A 'spoiler-proof' alternative to plurality voting   This is one of the best animated descriptions of instant runoff voting on the web. Requires Flash to see it, but this one is worth checking out.
• Reclaim Democracy.org is dedicated to reforming elections, and advocates IRV voting as a key part of its efforts.

•   National IRV listserve: This site allows you to read the archives or subscribe to a moderated list (one or two email messages per day) promoting instant runoff voting.
• The monthly newsletter of the Center for Voting and Democracy
• Democrats for Instant Runoff Voting and Republicans for Instant Runoff Voting
• The drive to revive cumulative voting for the Illinois House
• All 50 states and DC have their own lists for instant runoff organizing. Some are new, so invite others to join! Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

• Fair Vote Canada The leading Canadian organization promoting proportional representation in Canada.

• Electoral Reform Society.  One of England's leading proportional representation organizations. They have a handbook online The Make Votes Count Campaigner's Handbook.

• PR Society of Australia.

• New Zealand Election News.   Lots of useful information about the Mixed Member (MMP) form of proportional representation.

• Alliance for Better Campaigns

• Administration and Cost of Elections (ACE) Project. It contains an online version of the International IDEA Handbook of Electoral System Design, a valuable reference on all aspects of the design and administration of election systems.
• Alternative Election Systems. Links to various alternative elections systems and the text of several laws or proposals for proportional representation.
• Ballot Access News.  This is a monthly publication focusing on legislative and legal developments about the access of candidates and parties to the ballot. Contact: P.O. Box 470296, San Francisco, CA 94147 (415) 922-9779.
• Constitution Project Election Reform Initiative

• Electoral Calendar  An electoral calendar that includes general, presidential, municipal, regional, administrative, legislative elections and referendums in every country. Click on year under Previous and Next Elections for a chronological listing of elections. Updated weekly.

• Election Law A website by Loyola Law School (Los Angeles) Law Professor Rick Hasen, devoted to "the law of politics and the politics of law."
• ElectionLine.Org A project of the Election Reform Information Project, this site is a non-partisan, non-advocacy website providing up-to-the-minute news and analysis on election reform.

• Elections Around the World Wilfried Derksen's very nice updates on electoral results around the world

• Elections: Results and Voting Systems
• Election Systems Study Guide of League of Women Voters of Santa Monica (CA): For those of you studying, or considering studying, voting systems the Santa Monica study guide is now on line.  There is an extensive bibliography at the end of the study with lots of links to websites we used in our research.
• Electronic Voting Page A site with resources, links and news about electronic voting.
• Complete sets of U.S. presidential election results for all years and candidates by states, including primaries.

• The Federal Elections Commission has some good info about the basic questions on voter registration and turnout in 1998; campaign finance laws, reports and data; votes cast for parties by state, with primary votes as well; map of the US showing geography of party splits.

• Initiative and Referendum Institute (I&R) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of the initaitive and referendum process. The website contains links to local, state, and national I&R, as well as a ballotwatch feature and I&R research. Contact: P.O. Box 6306 Leesburg, VA 20718 (703) 723-9621.
  International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) From its website: "Created in 1995 by 14 countries, International IDEA promotes and advances sustainable democracy and improves and consolidates electoral processes world-wide." This website contains a wealth of information about international elections and election systems, as well as voter turnout.

• The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening the election process in emerging democracies. It has a quarterly newsletter devoted to elections and an extensive library open to the public. Contact: 1101 15th Street NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 828-8507.

• The Improving Campaign Conduct research program at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University is funded by the Pew Charitable Trust and works with the campaign consulting industry to improve the conduct of campaigns.

• Lijphart Elections Archive. A research collection of election statistics and results for approximately 350 national legislative elections in 26 countries.

• National Commission on Federal Election Reform. New commission organized to recommend ways to improve the accuracy and fairness of federal elections. Co-chaired by Presidents Carter and Ford.
• Electoral Systems Research Committee (ESRC) is an organization of scholars and researchers with regular publications and periodic conferences. To join, please fill out the form below and mail it with a check of $20 to: Dr. Jih-wen Lin Sun, Yat-sen Institute for Social Sciences and Philosophy Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan 11529.  Please make your check payable to JIH-WEN LIN (NOT ESRC). We have to open a personal account for ESRC to avoid extremely tedious administrative red tape in opening an organizational account. You can also e-mail the form to [email protected]. Send your name, mailing address, etc.

• Project Vote Smart: Non-partisan voter education site with extensive information on national, state, & local elected officials, their campaign finances, issue positions, ratings by special interest groups, and voting records. Also has issue briefs, links, voter registration info and bill tracking.

• State Net: Election '98.   "Your resource for 50-state election news, intelligence, and analysis."

• The Washington Post has a page of Virginia election links.

• Web White & Blue is a nonpartisan election-specific website funded by the Markle Foundation. The project includes a curriculum guide for teachers.

Political Link Sites

• The American Political Science Association

• The Department of Politics at the University of Keele links to many political topics. One page links to over 100 sites about US campaigns. The site links to over 3,200 major political and governmental sites around the world. Sections include: Elections, Political theory, Government sites, Government info, British politics, Area studies, Local & regional, Constitutions, Political parties, Manifestos, Political thought, International relations, Data archives, Journals & news, Other politics websites

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