Category: election reform

A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV.

An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections.

A new lawsuit filed in Oregon challenges the constitutionality of the state’s closed primary system, which denies the state’s largest registered voting bloc – independent voters – access to taxpayer-funded primary elections. The suit alleges Oregon is denying the voters equal voting rights

Last week in Staten Island, the NYC Charter Revision Commission held its next-to-last public hearing. As Commissioner Diane Savino commented, addressing NYC's closed primary system “is the single biggest issue we’ve heard this year.”

Much of the election coverage on Tuesday focused on the New York primaries, especially in NYC and the hotly contested ranked choice election for mayor. What got less attention, however, were the 3.5 million independent voters in the state locked out of elections they paid for.

For the third time in history, New York City voters used ranked choice voting (RCV) to determine their party nominees in Tuesday’s citywide primary elections. First implemented in 2021, the system was used in that year’s highly competitive Democratic primary, where Eric Adams ultimately secured the nomination and went on to become mayor. It was used again in 2023 without incident.

The United States is facing a disturbing resurgence of politically motivated violence, targeted attacks not just on individuals, but on the democratic fabric of the nation itself. Over the past several years, elected officials, public servants, and civilians have been stalked, firebombed, shot, and killed, sometimes in their homes, sometimes in broad daylight, often because of who they are, what they believe, or who they represent.

North Carolina voters are encouraged to check their voter registration. On June 24, the party affiliation of about 34,000 voters will change in the voter registration database from a now unrecognized political party to unaffiliated.

Tuesday marked a historic election for Charlottesville, Virginia, as the city used ranked choice voting (RCV) for the first time in a competitive Democratic primary. RCV advocates say the results offer a compelling case for the system’s potential to increase representation and voter satisfaction.

We’re halfway into 2025 and the year has already delivered several wins for independent voters and their right to equal participation in elections following a campaign cycle in which statewide ballot measure losses threatened to slow down the movement.