A new David Daley book and two new reports on election reform

Dear John,

The past few weeks have been a thrilling time for FairVote. Ranked choice voting (RCV) is likely to appear on the November ballot in four states and four cities – and has an exciting set of new (and newly prominent) endorsements!

Together with our sister organization FairVote Action, we’ll have more to share on these developments later this month – but today we’re excited to announce two new reports, and a new book by FairVote’s own David Daley!

Read on to learn about plurality wins in this year’s primaries, how to make the most out of multi-winner RCV elections, and David’s new book, Antidemocratic.

“Fewest votes wins” in 2024 primaries

In our current single-choice voting system, a candidate can win an election with far less than 50% of the vote, meaning a majority of voters supported someone other than the winner. That presents two major problems for our elections:

If the candidate is in a district safe for their party, they’ve essentially secured an office with just a fraction of a fraction of their constituents behind them.
If the candidate is in a competitive district, they enter the general election weaker, without most of their party behind them.

Ranked choice voting would solve both problems, helping candidates win their primaries with a majority of votes and sending them into the general election stronger.

Last Friday, FairVote published a report on 49 statewide and congressional primaries that were won with less than 50% of the vote. They included winners from both parties, and spanned all across the country. 24 of those primary winners are heavily favored to win their general elections, while 12 are heading into competitive contests. In several open seat contests, both major party nominees won their primaries without majority support. You can watch a short video about the report here.

Since we published that report, the number of plurality winners has grown even more! Notably, Missouri’s Republican primaries for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and treasurer were won by candidates with less than 50% of the vote. In such a deep-red state, these primary winners are all but certain to win their general elections – making a clear case for RCV.

Report: How to get the most out of multi-winner RCV

Ranked choice voting makes elections fairer. It can be used in elections with one winner, like for mayor or governor, and elections with multiple winners, like city council or school board. When adopting RCV for multi-winner elections, there are simple ways to maximize its benefits.

Yesterday, FairVote and RepresentUs released a new policy guide that presents recommendations to get the most out of multi-winner RCV. The recommendations include:

Using proportional RCV for multi-winner offices. Proportional RCV means every community or ideological group gets representation that corresponds with its share of the population – this is what we should want in our democracy!
Electing 3-5 seats at a time is the best way to maximize the benefits. That’s the “sweet spot” for multi-winner elections. If a community is only electing two seats, it won’t get the full benefits of proportional representation.
Allowing candidates to form slates – like “Springfielders for Safe Streets” – and list those slates on the ballot if local law allows. Those labels are helpful for voters in nonpartisan races.

Read the full policy guide here.

New book by FairVote’s David Daley

Antidemocratic, a new book by FairVote Senior Fellow David Daley, is out now! Antidemocratic follows the weakening of the Voting Rights Act through Supreme Court decisions like Shelby County vs. Holder. The book has already attracted significant media attention, including excerpts in The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, and Slate, as well as David's appearance on Morning Joe.

David is an expert on gerrymandering and voting rights, and regularly writes about how reforms like proportional ranked choice voting and the Fair Representation Act would mitigate gerrymandering and empower minority voters. He writes that:

“FairVote’s passion is fair representation, and ensuring that every American casts votes in meaningful elections, and that all of our voices are heard equally. That’s the same animating spirit behind my new book, Antidemocratic. Abraham Lincoln, in his first inaugural, said that the ‘candid citizen must confess’ that if the law and our rights were ‘irrevocably fixed’ by the Supreme Court, ‘the people will have ceased to be their own rulers.’ No nine people in a democracy should hold such power, unelected and for life.

“The book explores a five-decade history of decisions on the Voting Rights Act, redistricting and more that have concentrated more power in the hands of the court, less with the people, and pushed our elections to be more expensive and less competitive. It begins with the belief that the Reconstruction amendments and the Voting Rights Act are the beating heart that drives America’s highest ideals, and that the judicial erosion of those amendments and the steady shrinking of the VRA does damage to the dream of a more perfect union, with liberty and justice for all.”

The Voting Rights Act has a long history of bipartisan support, and was reauthorized by Congress on five occasions between its initial passage in 1965 and 2006. The 2006 reauthorization even passed the Senate with unanimous support. With its 59th anniversary happening this week, now is the perfect time to learn about its importance and the ongoing threat to its protections.

Order your copy of Antidemocratic today!

Thank you for reading! As the fall elections approach, we’ll continue to bring you all the latest news about the ranked choice voting movement!

Sincerely,
Ashley Houghton
Chief Program Officer

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