Bringing Voting Into the 21st Century

States Act To Expand Voting Rights For Citizens

1. Hawaii: Aloha State Enacts Strong Voting Rights Law Including Same Day Registration. In 2012, even with its native son Barack Obama atop the ballot, just a paltry 44 percent of eligible Hawaii voters showed up to vote–the worst turnout rate in the country.  On April 29, though, Hawaii lawmakers passed legislation to fix that, allowing citizens instead to register to vote when they show up to cast a ballot.  Academic studies have found that allowing same-day registration increases turnout between 7 and 14 percentage points.

2. Minnesota: One Day After Judge Orders Online Voter Registration Shut Down, Legislature Passes Law To Revive It.  This Monday, a district judge ordered Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to shut down the state’s online voter registration portal by Tuesday night because he lacked legislative authority when he launched it in September.  On Tuesday, the Minnesota state legislature passed and Gov Mark Dayton signed into law a bill giving him that authority.  Minnesota becomes the 23rd state to have online voter registration, which makes it easier for anybody with access to a computer to register and is simply common-sense for the 21st century.

3. Georgia: 12,000 Citizens Use New Online And Mobile Voter Registration System, more than double than expected.  The new online system rolled out in the end of March, expecting around 5,000 users in the first month.  Instead, more than 12,000 enrolled, including 7,000 newly registered voters, according to Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

4. Delaware: State Senate Set To Vote On Same Day Registration After Passing The House.  The bill is an important step for expanding access to the polls in Delaware.  But its not clear right now whether it’s a sure thing to pass.

BOTTOM LINE: When it comes to voting rights, at a time when some conservative-run swing states are doing whatever they can to roll back access, other states are showing the way forward for ensuring that voting is not a privilege, but a right.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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The Growth of Ranked Choice Voting and Instant Runoff Voting

Ranked Choice Voting and Instant Runoff Voting Bills advancing in Minnesota, Washington, DC and New York City.

This post from Rob Richie, FairVote update.

Ranked choice voting (RCV) has a simple goal: accommodate voter choice.  More choice means more power, and RCV provides a bottom-up solution to problems with our electoral system.  It is another way to vote, besides Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).

CLICK HERE to read FairVote's Monopoly Politics 2014 and the Fair Representation Solution.

Collecting highlights from RCV News in 2014, from its ever-growing use for campus elections to new expressions of support from top political leaders.  Just this week former U.S. Senator David Durenberger (R-MN) had a strong commentary about how RCV has reduced the impact of campaign spending, while Rob was among several presenters of papers on RCV at an important electoral reform conference last week at Stanford.

Ranked choice voting bills have been introduced in numerous state legislatures in 2013-2014, with particularly promising progress reported on by FairVote Minnesota.

FairVote Washington says Washington, DC, may become the next major city to adopt the instant runoff voting (IRV) form of RCV to elect its local officials.  Councilmember David Grosso introduced his IRV legislation to reform all primary and general elections.  With early support from co-sponsors David Catania, Mary Cheh, and Tommy Wells and a large mayoral field drawing attention to the problem of "split votes" and "spoilers," the bill needs just three votes for a council majority.

New York City has a vibrant movement for adoption of IRV in citywide primaries, led by the city council speaker and civic groups like the Citizens Union.  There is legislation to enact IRV in future city elections moving in both the city council and the state legislature.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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