On May 12, British Columbia voters will vote on whether to use Single Transferable Voting for provincial parliamentary elections. This article, from an Alberta newspaper, describes the proposal and focuses on how passage in British Columbia might advance the idea in Alberta.
On April 29, David John Anderson of Washington state filed initial paperwork to begin a Referendum petition, to ask the voters if they wish to repeal the National Popular Vote Plan law in that state. He needs 120,577 signatures by July 25, 2009. If his petition succeeds, the voters would vote on the law on November 3, 2009. See this story. Anderson has experience with initiatives; the article says he managed the campaign for I-872 in 2004. I-872 imposed “top-two” on Washington state.
The April 30 edition of the Harvard Law Record has this description of a panel on the National Popular Vote Plan, held on April 27. Both panelists, Law Professor Akhil Amar, and New Yorker editor Hendrick Hertzberg, support the plan, so in no sense was the panel a debate.
For decades, pollsters have been asking U.S. residents if they consider themselves to be Democrats, Republicans, or independents. Recently, however, two of the biggest polls have added “other” to those choices. An NBC News/WSJ Survey released April 29 finds that 4% of respondents choose the “Other” category. A Washington Post/ABC Poll released April 21 found 5% chose “Other”.
When one examines voter registration data, only 2% of voters are registered as members of parties other than Democratic or Republican.
The full poll results, for the partisan affiliation question, are: NBC News/WSJ, Democrats (including independents who lean Democratic) 42%, Republicans (including independents who lean Republican) 31%, strict independents 19%, “Other” 4%, undecided 4%. For the Washington Post/ABC Poll, the results are Democrats (including independents who lean Democratic) 53%, Republicans (including independents who lean Republican) 37%, independents 4%, “Other” 5%, undecided, less than 1%. Here is a link to the Washington Post/ABC Poll. The partisan affiliation question is at the very end. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
For decades, pollsters have been asking U.S. residents if they consider themselves to be Democrats, Republicans, or independents. Recently, however, two of the biggest polls have added “other” to those choices. An NBC News/WSJ Survey released April 29 finds that 4% of respondents choose the “Other” category. A Washington Post/ABC Poll released April 21 found 5% chose “Other”.
When one examines voter registration data, only 2% of voters are registered as members of parties other than Democratic or Republican.
The full poll results, for the partisan affiliation question, are: NBC News/WSJ, Democrats (including independents who lean Democratic) 42%, Republicans (including independents who lean Republican) 31%, strict independents 19%, “Other” 4%, undecided 4%. For the Washington Post/ABC Poll, the results are Democrats (including independents who lean Democratic) 53%, Republicans (including independents who lean Republican) 37%, independents 4%, “Other” 5%, undecided, less than 1%. Here is a link to the Washington Post/ABC Poll. The partisan affiliation question is at the very end. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
