John --



On a beautiful spring evening last week in New York City, FairVote hosted our inaugural FairVote Awards. We celebrated the movement and gave special thanks to critical allies in our effort to bring ranked choice voting to every ballot in the country, giving every voter more voice and more choice in our democracy.







FairVote released our new video, 30 Years of Impact, A Coming Decade of Promise <[link removed]>, with our board chair Alice Underwood and president Rob Richie speaking about a vision of better elections for all.



Unite America’s Nick Troiano presented Kathryn Murdoch <[link removed]> with FairVote’s Voter Champion award for her philanthropy and commitment to help win for RCV in states like Alaska, Utah, and Virginia, and for her support of our fellow organizations in the voting reform space.



CNN analyst John Avlon presented Andrew Yang <[link removed]> with the American Democracy Leader Award for his work to bridge partisan divides and elevate national awareness of RCV. Andrew has become the nation’s most prominent advocate for RCV and joined the FairVote Action Board of Directors late last year.



Color of Change’s Rashad Robinson presented Katrina vanden Heuvel <[link removed]> with the Voice for American Democracy Award. A generational media voice for effective democracy reform, Katrina has long advocated for the end of winner-take-all elections <[link removed]>, backed ranked choice voting <[link removed]>, and worked on addressing the best way to give Americans an electoral system that allows their votes to truly matter <[link removed]>.



FairVote asked Harvard’s Danielle Allen to speak in special recognition of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Our Common Purpose report <[link removed]>, spotlighting RCV and proportional voting as centrally important to addressing national problems with our elections.



Our special thanks to SING Harlem Choir for their stirring performance, CNN anchor and author John Avlon for serving as emcee for the evening, FairVote’s Cristin Merker for a phenomenal job organizing a spectacular evening with grace and good humor, and our nearly 250 guests who made the evening so memorable and together gave $300,000 to our reform efforts.







The 2022 FairVote Awards was just the beginning of our formal effort to highlight heroes of reform. Stay tuned for updates about the FairVote Awards in 2023!



What Else Is Happening?



A New Frontier for RCV <[link removed]>! Alaskans will get an early preview of ranked choice voting this year, with an August special election to replace the late Congressman Don Young. Alaska’s unique political culture will capture the spotlight <[link removed]> with a unique blend of an open primary that winnows the field to four, and an RCV general election ensuring a representative winner. Follow Alaskans for Better Elections <[link removed]>, the nonpartisan group that won this important reform at the ballot box, for updates and information about Alaska's upcoming elections.



A charter commission in Portland (OR) unanimously endorses the gold standard <[link removed]>! As experts and advocates, we see the proportional form of RCV as the best system to ensure voters have an effective voice and fair representation. Commission members in Oregon’s largest city agreed. They recently held a preliminary vote on a package of electoral reforms and unanimously supported allowing voters to rank candidates, as well as creating four new geographic council districts with three members elected to represent each district. More than 6,000 Portlanders have weighed in over the past year through public comment, surveys and community discussions. Portland residents will have more opportunities to share their feedback before a final commission vote in mid-June. A March 2022 poll underscored that RCV is overwhelmingly popular <[link removed]>.



Doubling Down <[link removed]> on RCV from Coast to Coast! We are excited to share a few legislative wins from states across the country and across the political spectrum. Maine <[link removed]>has allowed all its towns and cities to opt into RCV,Utah <[link removed]>approved technical tweaks to improve its municipal RCV pilot, and an attempt to repeal RCV inCalifornia <[link removed]>failed to even get a vote in its Assembly Elections Committee. After Maine, Utah, and California have implemented RCV, they're not simply turning their backs or even settling for the new status quo. Rather, citizens and leaders are choosing proactive steps to improve and expand RCV. This string of victories makes clear that when voters have the chance to rank their votes, they like it and want to continue it. 



New FairVote Report:Dubious Democracy <[link removed]>Earns Media



Since 1994, FairVote has released a comprehensive ranking of the level of competition, rate of voter participation, and voter consensus for winning candidates in congressional elections in all 50 states. A string of media stories picked up on our most recent “Dubious Democracy <[link removed]>” report, which tells the story of how a chronic lack of competition in US House races undermines accountability and the health of our democracy. 



Nationwide, replacing winner-take-all elections with a proportional voting system would solve many of the problems that make democracy dubious in so many states. To provide real choices and improve representation, we need to pass the Fair Representation Act <[link removed]> and move to multi-member congressional districts with fair elections based on ranked choice voting.



Find out where your state landed <[link removed]> in our rankings, and keep up the fight to give power back to voters everywhere in the United States. 



Upcoming Events!



On Thursday, April 28th, join our next Twitter Space <[link removed]>as we discuss what we’ve seen in the 2020 redistricting cycle, and the reforms that can prevent a repeat in 2030. The event will feature Dave Daley, Washington Post reporter Colby Itkowitz, Cato Institute fellow Walter Olson, and Common Cause National Redistricting Director Kathay Feng.







At 12pm eastern next Wednesday, April 27th, Election Law at Ohio State is hosting a virtual event titled An Electoral Game-Changer?: What if Ohio (and other states) used Alaska’s new Ranked Choice Voting system? <[link removed]> FairVote’s Mike Parsons will join to discuss how RCV could impact campaigning and governance in Ohio and nationwide. 



Earlier this week, FairVote was thrilled to join "Beyond Winner-Take-All: Possibilities for Proportional Voting in the United States'' <[link removed]> hosted by Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. On the panel were Harvard's Danielle Allen, former Utah state legislator Rebecca Chavez-Houck, and our own Rob Richie. For anyone seeking structural electoral reform of our antiquated elections, the great Danielle Allen had very clear advice during the event <[link removed]>: put ranked choice voting at the top of your 5 priorities & help us normalize change! We couldn’t agree more, Professor Allen. 



FairVote’s Rob Richie also spoke at a recent Columbia University event on RCV and proportional voting on April 12th.



Voices & Choices 



The FairVote blog is the best place to find current analysis and quick takes <[link removed]> about ranked choice voting, proportional voting and the movement for election reform we’re proud to be a part of. These are a few of our recent most popular and favorite posts: 



- The Fall of Gerrymandering: Passing Fair Districts in 2030 <[link removed]>

- History-Making Women and the RCV Elections That Put Them in Power <[link removed]>

- FairVote Updates Model Legislation for States to Adopt Ranked Choice Voting <[link removed]>



Rob’s Corner: Welcoming DemocracySOS!



As we celebrate three decades of impact and a coming decade of promise, I’m pleased to lift up a new publication we’re sponsoring. Edited by one of FairVote’s co-founders Steven Hill, DemocracySOS <[link removed]>is a digital newsletter hosted on Substack. You’ll receive timely posts on research and analysis about ranked choice voting, political reform, and the state of US democracy grounded in what we’ve done and thought at FairVote over the years. DemocracySOS features several contributors from the FairVote community, present and past, including Dave Daley, Cynthia Terrell, Michelle Whittaker, Krist Novoselic, Katie Usalis, Steven and me.



This will be a subscription-based newsletter, with a recommendation of $5 per month ($50 annual), but FairVote is offering it free for your first 30 days. DemocracySOS will provide opportunities for you to participate in discussions and be part of an online community that shares your interests in protecting, improving and expanding democracy. A few teasers:



- Whither and Whether Proportional Voting in the USA <[link removed]>:In a new post, I expand upon my comments in the Harvard Ash Center forum this week to explain why FairVote has decided to focus on the proportional form of ranked choice voting for electing Congress.

- Representation in the City of Beverage <[link removed]>: Steven Hill updates a particularly helpful exercise about the mechanics of how electoral systems work.

- Ranked choice voting made history in San Francisco <[link removed]>: Steven Hill tells the story of how in March 2002, just over 20 years ago, San Francisco’s big win for RCV against tough odds jump-started the movement for RCV – one that today has resulted in two states using RCV for presidential elections and more than 50 cities using RCV for their elections. 



I encourage you to check outDemocracySOS <[link removed]>, subscribe now <[link removed]>, and be on the lookout for regular and timely content designed to get beneath the surface of what’s going on with our politics and dive into what we can glean from FairVote’s 30 years of thought leadership and advocacy. 



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