Districts Won’t Truly Represent Deschutes County Residents
Proportional representation can better reflect voters’ views than arbitrary lines.
Collection: Proportional Representation Near You
For Oregonians, Better Elections Are Hidden in Plain Sight
The state’s constitution lets localities opt for methods that better reflect their mix of voters.
For Juneau, There’s a Better Way than Cascade Voting
With election reform on the horizon in Alaska’s capital city, single transferable vote is a safe and tested route for multi-winner ranked elections.
Proportional representation in just three (brutally hard, agonizingly slow) steps!
In an old Irish joke, a lost traveler hollers to a farmer in a field for directions. The farmer ponders for a moment and then yells back, “If I were going there, I wouldn’t start from here.” For those of us who aim to make American democracy (and especially Congress and other legislative bodies) live … Read more
The Brief and Frustrating Story of the 2001 Election in British Columbia
Hey voters of British Columbia, remember 2001? The BC Liberals got 58 percent of the vote and won all but two seats in the Legislative Assembly. Sure, their votes should have given the party a comfortable majority control—but not near-total domination. The BC New Democratic Party (NDP) and BC Greens won more than 40 percent … Read more
How Could Proportional Representation Work in the Washington Legislature?
As the introductory article in this series describes, Washingtonians have many reasons to adopt proportional representation for their state legislature: to give voters more voice, to ease partisan gridlock, to reduce the power of gerrymandering, to limit the outsize influence of special interests, and to make campaigns less expensive. But how can they do it? … Read more
Three Ways Oregon and Washington Could Vote Better
Last time, I explained how the rise of independent voters and the popularity of party outsiders Sanders and Trump show that American voters want more options, and how the path to change in the United States is through the individual states themselves. Here, I describe a few ways Oregon and Washington could do what New … Read more