This Massachusetts law was passed by ballot initiative in 1998, but repealed by the legislature as part of a budget package in 2003. Governor Mitt...
Maine’s campaign finance law, known as the Clean Elections Act is different from those in other states because those who agree to accept public funding...
In the wake of numerous high-profile state and municipal campaign scandals, the Connecticut legislature, in 2005, established the Citizens Election Program and corresponding Citizen Election...
In Arizona, candidates who agree to accept very low amounts of private money receive a fixed and limited amount of public funds. A five-member, non-partisan...
After the controversial Presidential election of 2000, many communities were compelled to re-examine their voting equipment and consider alternatives. In addition the Federal government passed...
A nice example of a Federal legislative initiative giving states the right to establish innovative voting systems. It was offered in 1999.… Read More
Proportional representation is a system for electing legislatures. In elections for a single, executive position, the winner-take-all principle still applies. However, Australian-style instant runoff voting...
While some reformers believe that campaign finance reform will cure many of the ills of our election process, others feel the key is proportional representation,...
Genetically Modified Organisms have raised questions of safety across the world.… Read More
As Greg LeRoy (GoodJobsFirst)points out, “As states grapple with their worst deficits in more than half a century, policymakers seek better data to help with...
On October 25, 1999 the Bangor ME (population 33,000) City Council passed a selective purchasing policy, establishing guidelines for buying clothing, footwear and other products...
The state of Illinois had a semi-proportional voting system to elect the lower House from 1870 to 1980. This was a minor modification of the...
Cambridge’s nine City Councillors and six School Committee members are elected at large by Proportional Representation (PR) for a two year term. Any partly or...
In Amarillo, Texas, which is is 16 percent Latino and 6 percent black, a minority had not been elected to the school board since the...
Fed up with repeated state preemption of local laws, Michigan cities have spearheaded a campaign to require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, rather than...