When someone wins an election with fewer than half the votes, what do you think? Many would call this winner undeserving. After all, they didn’t get a majority.
You know how a majority works. Right? Maybe not. In the world of voting theory, A LOT is counterintuitive—including the concept of majority. So get a chair because you’ll need to get comfortable for this one.
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Many view voting as a right, but others view it as a privilege. The United States is a nation abundant with laws that unquestionably deny many citizens certain rights, and felon disenfranchisement is a prime example of that.
Nationwide, millions of felony convicted Americans are denied the right to vote and there is strong correlation among those most affected and the voter turnout in elections.
In one of the birthplaces of American liberty, citizens are rallying for overdue change. Pennsylvania voters have grown dissatisfied with the way state lawmakers have disenfranchised their constituents. Voters collectively feel the polarization and overbearingness of the two-party system.
“It’s not.” “We don’t think it’s worth a hearing. Next question.”
With those two short phrases in answer to a reporter’s question, Nevada State Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford (D-Las Vegas) announced the end of the road for a bill that would have replaced Nevada’s closed primary system with a nonpartisan, top-two open primary.
The bill, SB 103, was introduced by Senator James Settelmeyer (R-Minden). It was Settelmeyer’s second attempt to bring top-two to Nevada.
Miami, FL – March 28, 2017 – Today Open Primaries, a national leader on election reform, Progress for All, a grassroots political and community action group, and Florida Fair and Open Primaries, a grassroots organization dedicated to enacting open primaries in Florida, released the results of a statewide survey of Florida voters that finds overwhelming discontent with the state’s political environment. It identifies broad support for reforming the state’s primary elections.
Former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez recently took the helm as chair of the Democratic National Committee, and while new party leadership often leads to major staffing changes, this time, things are different.
Perez wants to clean the slate completely.
The city commission of Fargo, North Dakota is currently considering a proposal that would dump the choose-one voting method used in a majority of cities and states across the U.S. and adopt approval voting for city elections. Fargo has an opportunity to make history as the first jurisdiction in the nation to use approval voting.
Here is a quick explanation of how approval voting works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db6Syys2fmE
Video Credit: The Center for Election Science
The special election process to replace Congressman Ryan Zinke as Montana’s sole representative in the U.S. House is being challenged in court.
Three plaintiffs are suing Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, challenging the Big Sky state’s onerous ballot access rules and questionable election schedule. Green Party nominee Thomas Breck, independent candidate Steve Kelly, and Green Party voter Danielle Breck filed the suit earlier this month.
In November of last year, voters in Colorado passed two election reform measures aimed at their June elections. Proposition 107 established presidential primaries in Colorado (previously the state had conducted caucuses), and the primaries will be conducted as open primaries, where voters do not have to be affiliated with a party to vote in any of the parties’ primaries.
This week meet the party that believes power starts from the bottom up.
Host T.J. O’Hara is joined by Green Party National Political Organizer Adrián Boutureira. The two discuss the Green Party’s core philosophies, and what’s next for the party.