Category Archives: primaries

The Big Lie & the Primary Problem

January 5, 2022, 6:51 pmalternative voting systems, election subversion risk, primariesNed Foley

This new piece in The Washington Post, as well as several others including one in the N.Y. Times based on Jeremy Peters’ forthcoming book, confirms for me the connection between (1) the entrenchment of Trump’s false claim about the… Continue reading

Could bipartisan democracy-protection have worked? Could it still?

December 23, 2021, 5:35 amalternative voting systems, election subversion risk, political parties, primariesNed Foley

There has been skepticism voiced by some about my suggestion that, after January 6, Democrats in Congress should have pursued a strategy of finding at least ten GOP Senators to support the kind of structural electoral reform, like a majority-winner … Continue reading

Trump’s primary power

December 22, 2021, 5:56 amalternative voting systems, election subversion risk, primariesNed Foley

Henry Olsen for the Washington Post updates his top 5 list of the GOP primaries that will show Trump’s influence in the midterms. His new rankings list the Perdue-Kemp gubernatorial primary in Georgia first. When I contemplate this race, as… Continue reading

“‘A real fight for our existence’: Massachusetts GOP spirals in Baker exit”

December 5, 2021, 6:27 pmpolitical parties, political polarization, primariesTabatha Abu El-Haj

Moderate Republicans struggling to stay in office given party primary dynamics is not exactly news. Still, this Politico article on the Republican Party in Massachusetts is worthwhile. “Republicans [in Massachusetts] have clung to relevancy in this bluest of blue state… Continue reading

The Problem with Plurality-Winner Elections

November 3, 2021, 5:21 pmalternative voting systems, political parties, political polarization, primariesranked choice votingNed Foley

Election Law at Ohio State is pleased to present a one-hour webinar on the issue of electoral system design: The Problem with Plurality-Winner Elections – And Can Requiring Majority Winners Help Save Democracy? It’s scheduled for Friday, November 19, at… Continue reading

Democracy Protection Requires More than Voting Rights

September 17, 2021, 1:52 pmalternative voting systems, election subversion risk, primariesNed Foley

Senator Tim Kaine has a new Washington Post op-ed entitled The Jan. 6 attack demands that we protect voting rights, in which he says: “Only by passing comprehensive voting rights legislation can we live up to th[e] responsibility” to protect… Continue reading

The “Portman problem” is now also the “Gonzalez problem”

September 16, 2021, 7:38 pmalternative voting systems, election subversion risk, primariesNed Foley

Earlier today, I did a post explaining why, if the goal is to reduce the risk of Republicans repudiating the result of a valid victory in the 2024 presidential election by the Democratic candidate, the highest electoral reform priority for… Continue reading

Democrats, democracy, and “the Portman problem”

September 16, 2021, 9:40 amalternative voting systems, election subversion risk, political parties, primaries, theoryNed Foley

Can one party save democracy by itself? I don’t think so, but that seems to be the view of some, as nicely captured by Ed Kilgore in responding to my blog post How Best to End “Electoral McCarthyism”? Kilgore acknowledges:… Continue reading

What new census data tell us about Pa.’s politics: More influence for Philly and Latinos, and a shrinking white vote

August 16, 2021, 11:11 amprimaries, redistricting, votingTabatha Abu El-Haj

From Jonathan Tamari and Jonathan Lai at the Philadelphia Inquirer: An interesting in-depth analysis of the potential political consequences of demographic changes in Pennsylvania—sadly, behind a firewall. Two key points beyond the headline: “Philadelphia and suburban Bucks, Chester, Delaware,… Continue reading

Michigan Mess: Internecine War in GOP

July 30, 2021, 5:52 amelection subversion risk, political parties, political polarization, primariesNed Foley

Politico has a fascinating read on the infighting among Michigan Republicans between Trump supporters, for whom belief that 2020 election was stolen from Trump remains the focus of attention, and traditional Republicans who (like Bill Barr) recognize that this stolen… Continue reading

Trump’s clout in a primary?

July 28, 2021, 3:59 pmprimariesNed Foley

The spotlight moves from Texas to Ohio, as Politico explains.

Could you withstand the pressure?

July 25, 2021, 7:17 pmalternative voting systems, election subversion risk, primaries, theoryNed Foley

Two articles, one in The Atlantic and the other in The New York Times, discuss how first-term Representative Nancy Mace–a Republican from South Carolina–initially condemned Trump for causing the January 6 insurrection, only to backtrack since then.… Continue reading

Trump’s efforts to “primary” Cheney

July 23, 2021, 6:42 amalternative voting systems, election subversion risk, primariesranked choice votingNed Foley

Politico goes deep into the details of former president Trump’s concerted plans to oust Rep. Liz Cheney as revenge for her commitment to honest vote-counting. Particularly interesting are the efforts to change the rules to make it more difficult for… Continue reading

Tournament Elections with Round-Robin Primaries

July 20, 2021, 9:04 amalternative voting systems, ballot access, political polarization, primaries, theory, votingranked choice votingNed Foley

I’ve posted a draft of this paper on SSRN. Here’s the abstract: Round-robin voting uses ranked-choice ballots but calculates which candidates are most preferred by a majority of voters differently from instant-runoff voting. Like a round-robin sports competition, round-robin… Continue reading