Formulas For a Clean Election


By Matthew Cossolotto
Published September 19th 2002
Warren Christopher ("The Stalling of Election Reform," Op-Ed, Sept. 15) rightly decries the appalling failure on the part of Congress to pass meaningful election reform legislation.

We should not only ensure that votes are actually counted; we should ensure that votes actually count. To do that, the country should engage in a thorough debate -- under the auspices of a presidential commission and various state-level commissions -- about alternative voting systems, including proportional voting methods for representative assemblies and instant runoff voting for one-winner contests.

Not to consider sensible, readily available alternative voting systems as part of our election reform efforts does a disservice to the American electorate and to the future of American democracy.

Matthew Cossolotto
Vice President
Center for Voting and Democracy

IRV Soars in Twin Cities, FairVote Corrects the Pundits on Meaning of Election Night '09
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.

And as pundits try to make hay out of the national implications of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections, Rob Richie in the Huffington Post concludes that the gubernatorial elections have little bearing on federal elections.

Links