
	Where results make sense

Topic: Center for Voting and Democracy

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Deliberative democracy

Voting paradox

2004

February 15

John Bayard Anderson

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EXECUTIVE POWER

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	Approval voting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		Approval voting is a voting system used for elections, in which each voter can vote for as many or as few candidates as the voter chooses.
		Historically, something resembling Approval voting for candidates was used in the Republic of Venice during the 13th century and for elections in 19th century England.
		Unlike Condorcet method, instant-runoff voting, and other methods that require ranking candidates, approval voting does not require significant changes in ballot design, voting procedures or equipment, and it is easier for voters to use and understand.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Approval_voting (1618 words)

	Body
		Institute for Democracy Studies, the Institute for Democracy Studies is a nonprofit, tax-exempt research and educational center devoted to the study of anti-democratic religious and political movements and organizations in the U.S and internationally.
		Center for Democracy Studies is committed to conducting research and education in defense of democracy, education, reproductive rights, and a fair and secular legal system.
		Center for Voting and Democracy, the Center for Voting and Democracy is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that studies how voting systems affect participation, representation and governance.
	www.uic.edu /depts/pols/odsnew/demlinks.html (413 words)

	electronic vote and Democracy (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		If votes are really anonymous then nobody can verify if each of them is what its (unknown) voter actually cast, thus the only way to have certainty about electoral result is to collect votes using secure and human-verifiable procedures.
		It is a kind of "vote receipt" printed by an electronic voting machine showing the elector his/her vote as it is being acquired by the electoral system.
		Voting is only the (recurrent) final act of the people's participation in politics.
	www.electronic-vote.org (2227 words)

	Accurate Democracy Voting Rules
		Our defective voting rules come from the failure to realize there are different types of election which require different methods of voting.
		To win by the voting rule explained next, candidates must have broad appeal and views near the middle of the electorate -- and correspondingly near the middle of a council proportional to the electorate.
		Excellent policies are a goal of accurate democracy, and their success may be measured by the median voter's freedom, education, income, security, health and leisure.
	www.accuratedemocracy.com (1160 words)

	New York University \| Bobst Library: Irwin Mann Voting and Democracy Virtual Library (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		The Center is an integral part of the University of San Francisco School of Law which has a long tradition of involvement in rule of law projects in Asia, Europe, and Central and South America.
		Center projects in the United States and around the world focus on legal education, judicial training, free and fair elections, and the protection of human rights.
		VIS is a non-partisan, non-profit organization seeking to help voters understand the effects of the laws enacted (or not enacted) by the U.S. Congress on our everyday lives, and the role of the individual members of Congress in the legislative process.
	library.nyu.edu /research/govdocs/vote.html (781 words)

	Center for Voting and Democracy
		The Center for Voting and Democracy, especially San Francisco staffers Steven Hill and Caleb Kleppner and New England Regional Director Terry Bouricius, played central roles in remarkable reform achievements on March 5.
		The simplest solution is to adopt a voting reform called "instant runoff voting." The League, along with a host of citizen volunteers, has asked to have this item placed on town meeting agendas across Vermont.
		Instant runoff voting is a voting method that determines the majority winner, no matter how many candidates are in a race.
	fairvote.org /sf/robmessage.htm (1796 words)

	Happy 10th birthday, Center for Voting and Democracy \| FairVote Minnesota
		Ten years ago, a small group of activists and academics with a vision for a better democracy made history by founding the Center for Voting and Democracy.
		Carol Rudie served on the board of the Center for Public Justice, which served as fiscal agent for the Center for Voting and Democracy until it got on its feet.
		Center staffers have made several trips to Minnesota for education and organizing.
	www.fairvotemn.org /articles/happy10th_07232002.html (339 words)

	Texas House of Representatives (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		The award was presented by Rob Richie, executive director of the Center for Voting and Democracy, on behalf of the group’s chairman, former Illinois Congressman and Presidential Candidate, John B. Anderson.
		The Center for Voting and Democracy specifically cited his struggle against the mid-decade congressional redistricting process in Texas and his efforts in passing legislation allowing for cumulative voting in 1995.
		Cumulative voting allows a voter to cast as many votes as there are seats without limiting the number of votes a voter may cast for a single candidate.
	www.house.state.tx.us /news/release.php?id=672 (367 words)

	Wired News: How E-Voting Threatens Democracy
		In January 2003, voting activist Bev Harris was holed up in the basement of her three-story house in Renton, Washington, searching the Internet for an electronic voting machine manual, when she made a startling discovery.
		Landes said she realized that the right to vote was useless as long as she had no way of verifying that her vote was recorded accurately.
		She was concerned that voting machines were closed to public scrutiny, and the people who made them were not subject to background checks.
	www.wired.com /news/evote/0,2645,62790,00.html (1476 words)

	Population Resource Center
		The voting age population (VAP) rose to 211 million in 2000; however about 7-8% of the VAP are non-citizens and thus ineligible to vote.
		Recent immigration has a large effect on voting rates of different ethnic/racial groups, because many immigrants are not U.S. citizens and are therefore ineligible to vote.
		In the 1998 Congressional elections, 35% of the VAP voted.
	www.prcdc.org /summaries/voting/voting.html (592 words)

	New Rules Project - Governance - Instant Run-Off Voting - San Francisco
		Prop A amends the charter of the City and County of San Francisco to provide for the election of the Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney, City Attorney, Treasurer, Assessor-Recorder, Public Defender, and members of the Board of Supervisors using a ranked-choice, or "instant run-off," ballot.
		Supporters of the proposal argued that the adoption of instant run-off voting in San Francisco would saves up to $2 million per year, frees voters from having to deal with elections in December and will raise voter turnout.
		Just like with the December runoff, if your favorite candidate is eliminated your vote counts for your runoff choice that is still in the race, as indicated by your rankings.
	www.newrules.org /gov/irvsanfran.html (343 words)

	Lani Guinier's Oscar Fever Timothy Noah
		The Center for Voting and Democracy, a nonprofit group chaired by John Anderson and based in Takoma Park, Md., has come up with an ingenious gimmick to promote its campaign against winner-take-all elections.
		Among the latter, the Center for Voting and Democracy cleverly points out, is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when it selects Oscar nominees, as it will do Feb. 13.
		Members vote in their occupational category or categories (actors for other actors, directors for other directors, set decorators for other set decorators, etc.) for up to five winners, designated in descending order.
	www.slate.com /?id=1007027 (1131 words)

	Electronic Voting
		Internet voting creates additional problems due to the inability of service providers to assure that websites are not spoofed, denial of service attacks do not occur, balloting is recorded accurately and anonymously, and votes are cast by the appropriate person.
		Florida's Congressman Robert Wexler and Palm Beach County Commissioners Burt Aaronson and Addie Green have filed a federal lawsuit, citing the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and claiming that it is unconstitutional for 52 counties in Florida to have a means to conduct a recount, while the 15 touchscreen counties cannot perform one.
		The "lost vote" (also called "undervote" or "residual vote") rate tends to differ depending on equipment and other factors, but it is often also an indicator of malfunction or tampering.
	www.notablesoftware.com /evote.html (5152 words)

	VotePair \|\| Uniting Progressives Through Strategic Voting
		As we learned in 2000, a few hundred votes in the right states can make all the difference in the world--and the whole world is watching now.
		In vote-pairing, swing-state progressives whose first instinct might have been to vote for Nader, Cobb or Badnarik are paired with Democrats (and others whose first choice for President is Kerry) in 'safe' states where either Bush or Kerry has a decisive lead.
		As a result, the paired voters' support for progressive third parties is recorded in the popular vote and their preference for Kerry over Bush finds voice in the Electoral College.
	www.votepair.org (381 words)

	S/R 29: Cumulative Voting a Boost for Minority Community (Center for Voting and Democracy) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		In the two elections since cumulative voting was adopted to a settle a minority voting rights challenge in 1999, the school board has gone from all-white to having 4 white representatives, 2 Latino representatives and 1 fl representative.
		Cumulative voting was enacted as a settlement to a lawsuit brought by the League of United Latin American Citizens, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and three individuals against Amarillo ISD.
		This election was seen by many as a test of the ability of cumulative voting to work for the minority community,” said Joleen Garcia, of the Center for Voting and Democracy, a national organization that promotes fair election systems.
	www.greens.org /s-r/29/29-11.html (522 words)

	AlterNet: Major Victory for Voting Reform
		San Franciscans voted 56 to 44 percent to pass their city's "Proposition A" and become the first major city in the United States to use instant runoff voting (IRV) to elect its local officials.
		Instant runoff voting advocates in states like Alaska, Florida, New Mexico and Washington are poised to capitalize on the San Francisco victory and the clear message from Vermont's towns.
		In cities and states around the nation, democracy advocates are ready to push beyond their current efforts to lessen the impact of money in politics and improve electoral mechanics.
	www.alternet.org /story/12568 (1040 words)

	Update Voting Rules by Robert Richie - Center for Voting and Democracy
		Thus, 60 percent of votes will elect six of 10 seats rather than all the seats, while 10 percent of the vote elects one seat rather than none.
		Used for decades in Australia and Ireland, instant runoff voting was adopted by San Francisco voters in 2002, and instant runoff voting legislation was introduced in 20 states in 2003.
		Robert Richie is executive director of the Center for Voting and Democracy.
	www.futurenet.org /article.asp?ID=662 (756 words)

	Condorcet's Method
		The way the votes are tallied is by computing the results of separate pairwise elections between all of the candidates, and the winner is the one that wins a majority in all of the pairwise elections.
		The best result of this is that if there is Candidate A on one extreme who pulls 40% of the vote, Candidate B in the middle who only pulls 20% of the vote, and Candidate C on the other extreme who pulls 40% of the vote, Candidate B will get elected as a compromise.
		The candidate with the least number of first place votes is eliminated, and their votes are "transferred" to their 2nd choice until a candidate has a majority.
	www.eskimo.com /~robla/politics/condorcet.html (921 words)

	United States Politics and Elections
		The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-partisan organization which tracks campaign contributions at both the federal and state level, and links contibutions to their effect on public policy.
		The Center for Voting and Democracy is a non-partisan organization "that supports fair elections and studies how voting systems affect participation, representation and governance.
		Data on voting, opinion, and public participation of the American Electorate collected and disseminated by the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.
	library.albany.edu /subject/USCAM.HTM (1040 words)

	Instant Runoff Voting for Wisconsin: Links (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		The Center for Voting and Democracy provides an excellent collection of links to information about instant runoff voting.
		In an IRV election, Ernie garners a majority of votes to become CEO of The Jim Henson Company, fending off Beaker, Elmo, Miss Piggy, and Oscar the Grouch (who would have won under a plurality system).
		Created for, and presented by, the Center for Voting and Democracy.
	my.execpc.com /E0/32/galaxy/WSAA_links.htm (168 words)

	civilrights.org -- 2004 U.S. House Elections Were the Least Competitive in History
		Dubious Democracy 2005 provides a comprehensive assessment of the level of competition and accuracy of representation in U.S. House elections in all 50 states from 1982 to 2004.
		It ranks each state on a "democracy index" based on factors such as average margin of victory, percentage of seats to votes, voter turnout and number of House races won by overwhelming landslides.
		To see the entire Dubious Democracy 2005 report, visit the Voting and Democracy Research Center at www.fairvote.org/dubdem.
	www.civilrights.org /library/detail.cfm?id=34447 (456 words)

	FairVote - Home
		The San Diego City Council unanimously approved creating a citizens task force to look at ways to make it easier to vote in the city.
		The task force comes after a divisive mayor's race in 2004 when a write-in candidate split the electorate and gave the city a winner with only 35% of the vote.
		In contrast, San Francisco has had positive elections of late, effectively using IRV to elect its Board of Supervisors.
	www.fairvote.org (638 words)

	National Ballot Integrity Project Discussion Forum - Center for Voting & Democracy Events at Dem Convention (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		On behalf of the Center for Voting and Democracy I would like to invite members of your organization to attend
		This event will be an informative and energizing discussion on the struggle for voting rights through history and the critical need for a constitutionally protected right to vote in America today.
		For more information on this invitation-only event or to register as an attendee (spaces are filling up fast), please click here.
	www.ballotintegrity.org /DCForumID68/3.html (271 words)

	Reform Elections.org
		It was enough to make us believers in voting rights think we would be left with nothing under the tree.
		Three years after the passage of the Help America Vote Act was supposed to overhaul the nations' election system, the states are still working to comply with the law and implement sweeping changes in the wake of the successes and failures of the 2004 election.
		Laws requiring all voters to present very specific forms of identification before exercising their right to vote are rapidly becoming the voting rights barrier of the 21st Century.
	www.reformelections.org (511 words)

	Voting Fraud News (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		State rebuffs raw vote demand 1/24/2006 Anchorage Daily News: "The state Division of Elections has refused to turn over its electronic voting files to the Democrats, arguing that the data format belongs to a private company and can't be made public.
		Voting Rights, Human Rights 10/14/2005 NYT: "The United States has the worst record in the democratic world when it comes to stripping convicted felons of the right to vote.
		American Center on Voting Rights 8/9/2005 AC4VR.com: Republican front group tasked to make it appear as if Dems are guilty of vote fraud on a larger scale than the Republicans.
	www.blackvoternetwork.com /votefraud.htm (9086 words)

	Few Texas Elected Officials Face Serious Competition
		In November, just 17 percent of house members and just 13 percent of state senators faced a “serious” competitor who was able to limit their margin of victory to under 60 percent of the vote.
		An alternate explanation is that legislative offices are considered more politically crucial and attract greater competition—even from dark-horse candidates.
		For more information on these electoral systems, see the Center's website at: http://www.fairvote.org/.
	www.tpj.org /Lobby_Watch/uncontestedraces.html (550 words)

	Voting and Democracy Report: 1995 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		The Voting and Democracy Report is a compilation of 80 articles on proportional representation by leading experts and activists.
		This report is an invaluable source of information for those interested in learning more about proportional representation and for those working to make this reform a reality in the United States.
		The report costs $12.00 and may be ordered from The Center for Voting and Democracy, 6905 Fifth Street NW, Washington, D.C. Table of Contents
	www.mtholyoke.edu /acad/polit/damy/OrderDesk/vdr2.htm (188 words)

	Washington State Citizens for Proportional Representation
		We will be discussing in more detail our legislative lobbying plans (eliminating a primary election in favor of Instant Runoff voting in general election and apportioning electoral college votes on the basis of the state's popular vote).
		This would eliminate the need to conduct a primary election thus shortening the campaign season and reducing election costs to the candidates as well as the taxpayers.
		You are welcome to join our Steering Committee which meets monthly at the University Branch of the Seattle Public Library at NE 50th and Roosevelt Way.
	www.fairvote.net /washington (435 words)

	ELECTORAL SYSTEMS (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-09)
		* Centre for Voting and Democracy US-organization promoting full representation as an alternative to winner-take-all elections and instant runoff voting as an alternative to plurality elections and traditional runoff elections.
		* Electoral Reform Society of the UK Organization which campaigns for the strengthening of democracy through changes to the voting system and electoral arrangements in the UK.
		Its goal is to improve collaboration and dialogue between policy and grassroots organizations, and to promote their work to journalists and legislators.
	www.aceproject.org /main/english/pi/pid03.htm (645 words)

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