On June 19th, the General Assembly approved the National Popular Vote compact. It's a huge victory for FairVote RI, for the NPV coalition, for the legislators who backed the bill, including sponsors House Judiciary Chairman Donald Lally and State Senator Daniel Connors, and for Rhode Island.

The key votes followed a robust debate in the House. After discussing the House bill for more than 40 minutes, the House passed it by a 36-34 margin. Later in the night the House approved the Senate version by a 34-28 margin. The RI House became the 19th state legislative chamber to pass the compact.

"This was an extremely important and heartfelt debate, and it's a big victory for democracy, and for the 74% of Rhode Islanders who support a national popular vote," FairVote RI Director Ari Savitzky said.

Want to learn more about the national popular vote compact? Check out nationalpopularvote.com, and come hear a discussion on the plan with FairVote RI's Ari Savitzky at 7PM this Wednesday, June 25th, at Blue State Coffee on Thayer Street in Providence.

Two of FairVote RI's legislative proposals--youth voter pre-registration and a primary vote for eligible 17 year olds--are focused on young Rhode Islanders, and for good reason. A healthy democracy gets voters involved early.

Recently, FairVote RI travelled to one of Providence's most celebrated community-based projects, New Urban Arts, to register young Rhode Islanders. Getting registered is a fundamental step towards participating in democracy, but young people in our state are registered at dramatically lower rates than the rest of the population. We're working to change that.

Registration in turn should be part of a broader civic education. FairVote RI Director Ari Savitzky has gone to places like the Wheeler School to talk to 8th graders directly about the mechanics of voting, the primary process and the Electoral College. On a sunny day towards the end of the semester, those students registered dozens of new voters outside two coffee shops on Thayer Street in Providence. That's more than just a class project--it's democracy in action.

FairVote RI Event Alert: Join FairVote RI's Ari Savitzky for "Electoral College Dropout," a discussion on the national popular vote compact, at Blue State Coffee on Thayer Street in Providence, at 7 pm on June 25th.