New Report: Shrinking Battleground: 2008 Presidential Election and Beyond

Posted by on September 23, 2005

[posted from FairVote Newsletter]

The Shrinking Battleground: The 2008 Presidential Elections and Beyond

The Shrinking Battleground uses a model of ?state partisanship? to explain why the United States has experienced a decrease in the number of competitive battleground states in presidential elections, how these partisan divisions are hardening and what impact they have on American democracy. The fundamental reality is that fewer and fewer Americans play a meaningful role in electing the president ? and that the major party campaigns act on that understanding with utter disregard for the interests and views of most voters outside of swing states. The result is a two-tiered system for voters, with damaging impact on voter turnout, racial fairness, political equality and the future of American democracy. The mounting evidence makes it clear that the solution is to establish a direct election of the president so that all votes count equally and the principles of majority rule and one person, one vote are respected.

http://www.fairvote.org/?page=1555