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FAIRVOES 2020REFORMVISION

OUR DEMOCRACY IS IN CRISIS.

Respect or our democratic institutions has plunged to an all-time low. Winner-take-all election rulesand restrictive primaries channel Americans diversity o views into two ercely partisan camps thatrarely cooperate on policy. By treating voting laws as tools or partisan advantage, incumbents put theright to vote at risk. Presidential campaigns ignore most Americans, and winning a majority o votesin congressional elections may not mean winning the most seats.

Tese problems extend to our states and cities. States increasingly suer rom entrenched single partydomination, and more than a third o state legislative races are uncontested. Gubernatorial electionturnout rarely tops y percent and mayors win with even lower and less representative turnout. Atall levels o government, women and racial minorities are under-represented.

FairVote goes to the root cause o our electoral dysunction with a reorm agenda grounded in theprinciple o respect or every vote and every voice. Our work is building the oundation or theollowing advocacy goals.

RESPEC EVERY VOE

Voting without a chance o air representation is not real democracy. Every American should be able toelect preerred candidates, and our legislatures should reect the people they represent.

2020 GOAL:FairVote will lead a national movement or a truly representative democracy.Congress will end gerrymandering by passing a law that requires independent redistricting

commissions to draw air representation voting plans. wo states will adopt air voting orlegislative elections. Te nation will honor the centennial o womens surage by backing newpolicies to promote womens representation.

Winner-take-all elections are dysunctional in todays climate o partisan polarization. Tey can undercutthe basic principle o majority rule and produce unrepresentative legislatures and unaccountableincumbents. We must replace winner-take-all systems with air representation voting plans in waysconsistent with our history and the Constitution. Our reorm coalition will include women, racialminorities, supporters o independents and third parties, and major party backers seeking morerepresentative legislatures and the ability to win seats everywhere.

o ensure voters will have real choices, air representation and geographically coherent districts, FairVotewill build support or a ederal law to require the use o independent redistricting commissions to drawair representation voting plans. We will help win air voting or state legislative elections, and expandthe use o air voting to resolve voting rights cases. We will celebrate the 2020 centennial o womenssurage by building support or policies to support the goal o women and men being equally likely towin in any given election.

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6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 610akoma Park, MD 20912

301-270-4616www.airvote.org | ino@airvote.org@airvote | @airvoteaction

2020

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RESPECEVERY VOICE

Our electoral rules should ensure our votes matter in every election. But plurality voting and currentelectoral college rules waste too many votes.

2020 GOAL:FairVote will orge coalitions to make our votes count. States will enact the NationalPopular Vote plan and guarantee the White House to the popular vote winner. Tree states will

accommodate voter choice by adopting ranked choice voting or gubernatorial elections.

Our usual plurality voting system or single winner ofcessuch as president, governor and mayor,break down when more than two candidates run. With more unafliated voters, we need to allowmore challengers to run without spoiler ears and unrepresentative outcomes. Ranked choice voting(RCV) has won in a growing number o cities and is under serious consideration in states like Maineand Minnesota. FairVote will remove administrative barriers to RCV, create resources or advocacyand implementation, and partner with state and local reormers in strategic advocacy.

Te National Popular Vote agreement is already law in states representing nearly hal o the 270electoral votes necessary or it to be activated in 2016. Once enacted, it will make every vote equal byguaranteeing election o the presidential candidate who wins the most votes in all y states and theDistrict o Columbia. Since the reorm campaigns launch in 2006, FairVote has been the research andeducation engine about problems with the current rules and the case or the National Popular Voteplan.

PROMOEEVERY VOE

We need to arm voting as a undamental right and commit to protect, promote and expand surage.

2020 GOAL:FairVote will be the catalyst or a modern surage movement. A majority inCongress will support an afrmative right to vote in the Constitution. More than 1,000 localitiesand 20 states will pass resolutions to protect, promote and expand surage.

Recent battles over voting rights underscore the need or both an afrmative right to vote inthe U.S. Constitution and widespread commitment to put the rights o voters ahead o partisanconsiderations. FairVotes Promote Our Vote campaign will lead to thousands o cities, campusesand organizations passing resolutions calling or an afrmative constitutional right to vote andcommitting to concrete actions to protect, promote and expand surage. FairVote will build supportor a constitutional amendment, engage in eective communication and act as a clearinghouse orlocal action on surage.

FairVote is a non-proft, non-partisan organization dedicated to elections that respect every vote andevery voice. We act as an electoral reorm catalyst to increase voter turnout, voter choice and airrepresentation. As the national organization most ocused on structural reorm o American elections, we

pursue innovative research, analysis and communications to turn new ideas into widely accepted policy.

2020

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6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 610akoma Park, MD 20912

301-270-4616www.airvote.org | ino@airvote.org@airvote | @airvoteaction