On April 4, Vermont governor Jim Douglas chose to veto legislation to re-establish majority elections for Congress in his state through instant runoff voting. Vermont would have been the first state to enact IRV for Congress; legislative leaders affirmed their commitment to the bill, and it is sure to move in the state again. FairVote has worked hard to support this legislation, which likely generated more than 600 phone calls to the governor from Vermonters.

On April 7, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich signed legislation entering Illinois into the National Popular Vote plan for president. The NPV plan now has states making up more than a sixth of what it will take for the plan to go into affect. It also has passed fully a sixth of our nation's state legislative chambers, including most recently in Maine, Vermont and Hawaii.

As the Democratic Party approaches the final stretch of nominating contests, now is a good time to reflect on how we can improve the chaotic presidential primary process. The mad rush to the front of the calendar resulted in states losing convention delegates and the voices of voters being ignored. The Republican Party has recently taken the first step in setting a 2012 calendar that will ensure all states have an opportunity to participate in an organized way. The RNC's rules panel voted 28-12 in favor of the "Ohio Plan," a calendar that puts smaller states at the front of the process and rotates "pods" of larger states in four sections.

FairVote's "Fix the Primaries" campaign has improved the dialogue about how the parties can run fairer, more efficient contests in 2012. Right to Vote Director Adam Fogel and Executive Director Rob Richie have just released a new article in the Policy Perspective series, Delegating Democracy: How the Parties Can Make their Nominating Contests More Democratic, which examines six proposals that would promote democratic values in both parties' presidential nominating contests.

The National Popular Vote plan won a landslide vote of support in Vermont's state Senate on March 19 -- the latest example of a strong case being made for a national popular vote for all states, big and small. Although the bill in the Washington State legislature did not get a House vote before the state's short session ended, the plan still remains viable in several states in 2008.

FairVote has backed the Vermont advance and recently released a well-received new video that showcases students making the case for change.

The National Popular Vote plan for general elections for president is making advances in states even as there is a rising awareness that the parties must take action to make their nomination processes more democratic. The Washington State Senate appropriately passed the National Popular Vote plan on Presidents' Day with a vote of 30-18.

The Boston Globe and smaller papers like the Daily Freemanin New York have joined newspapers like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Sun Times in endorsing the National Popular Vote plan, while a rapidly growing number of state legislators are backing the proposal. FairVote remains optimistic that the plan will be in place by 2012.

Meanwhile, FairVote's Fix The Primaries project is sparking widespread media attention to our calls for parties to institute more democratic processes to pick their presidential nominees. FairVote's Rob Richie has appeared on dozens of radio and television programs, including national programs Bloomberg Television, Democracy Now and FAIR's Counterspin.