A Promise Deferred
Fifty years ago, I wrote a research paper advocating for comprehensive electoral reform. It was 1974. Nixon had just resigned. The country was reeling from corruption and polarized by war, but there was a strange kind of hope in the air, that we might take stock of how power worked in America and build something better. I believed then that the case was clear: our voting systems were brittle, inequitable, and vulnerable to manipulation. I was convinced that change was not just necessary, but imminent.
It wasn’t. Five decades later, the problems are worse and the consequences are existential.
We are now living through an era in which elections are routinely questioned, districts are drawn for partisan gain, and billions of dollars flow into campaigns with little transparency. Voters of color, young people, and the working class face mounting obstacles just to cast a ballot. And still, year after year, most Americans say they want a fairer, more functional democracy and still, systemic reform remains out of reach.
This isn’t a matter of civic housekeeping. It’s a crisis of representation. And after half a century of stalled progress, I’ve come to believe that the only way forward is to confront electoral reform not as a wonky policy debate, but as a moral imperative.
The question isn’t whether our system is broken. It’s how we begin to fix it. Electoral reform isn’t a single lever. You could say it’s a scaffolding of changes, each reinforcing the other.
I’m going to dive into five fault lines of democracy, starting with a reform that empowers voters to express their values without fear: Ranked Choice Voting.
Ranked Choice Voting: Consensus Over Chaos
The Problem: Our current winner-take-all system rewards extremism, discourages new voices and traps voters in cycles of “lesser evil” decision-making. Candidates win with a fraction of the vote and pluralities masquerade as mandates.
The Reform: Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) lets voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no one gets a majority, the lowest-ranked candidates are eliminated and their votes reallocated until someone clears 50%. It’s already in use in Maine, Alaska, and more than 50 localities nationwide.
Why It Matters:
- Encourages coalition-building and issue-based campaigning.
- Breaks the two-party stranglehold without requiring third-party “spoilers.”
- Empowers underrepresented communities by expanding voter choice.
Barriers:
- Misunderstanding and disinformation campaigns falsely frame RCV as confusing or partisan.
- Pushback from incumbents invested in the current system’s predictability.
The Path Forward:
- Advocate for RCV at the local and state level where resistance is less entrenched.
- Pair reform campaigns with civic education efforts and visual explainers.
- Highlight bipartisan benefits. Conservatives in Utah and progressives in New York have both embraced it.
While RCV addresses the dysfunction within individual elections, some distortions are baked into the system itself. Chief among them: a 200-year-old compromise that continues to undermine the principle of one person, one vote. The Electoral College isn’t just outdated—it’s obstructive.
The Electoral College: A Relic That Undermines Democracy
The Problem: Twice in the past quarter century, the presidency has gone to the candidate who lost the popular vote. The Electoral College distorts campaign priorities toward swing states, effectively silencing millions in “safe” states.
The Reform: The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) pledges participating states to award their electors to the winner of the national popular vote. When states totaling 270 electoral votes join, it takes effect, sidestepping the need for a constitutional amendment. As of mid-2025, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) has been enacted by 18 jurisdictions (17 states plus the District of Columbia), representing a total of 209 electoral votes. That means the compact needs 61 more electoral votes to reach the 270 threshold required to take effect.
Several additional states, including Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Virginia, and Oklahoma, have passed the bill in at least one legislative chamber. These six states account for 68 electoral votes. Approval by these states would allow the NPVIC to go into effect.
Why It Matters:
- Every vote would carry equal weight, regardless of geography
- It would strengthen voter confidence and turnout, especially in non-swing states.
- It reflects the will of the people in the most literal way.
Barriers:
- Constitutional inertia and fear-mongering about “mob rule.”
- Misinformation about how smaller states would be “ignored,” despite being ignored now under the current model.
The Path Forward:
- Pressure legislatures in purple and blue-leaning states that haven’t joined the NPVIC. Don’t forget Oklahoma! They’re half way there.
- Use storytelling to show how “safe-state” voters feel disengaged and ignored.
- Be sure to frame it as a commitment to fairness, not partisanship.
But even if we fixed how votes are cast and counted, our democracy would still be in hock to the highest bidder. Money may not literally cast ballots, but it decides who’s on them, and who’s heard. To level the playing field, we must confront the corrosive influence of campaign finance.
Campaign Finance: Legal Bribery in Plain Sight
The Problem: Ever since Citizens United, money has flooded elections through Super PACs, dark money nonprofits, and shell corporations. Candidates spend more time dialing donors than engaging voters.
The Reform:
- Public financing systems like Seattle’s “Democracy Vouchers” or NYC’s matching funds.
- Full donor transparency and stronger anti-coordination laws.
- Bans on political spending by foreign-influenced entities.
Why It Matters:
- Restores trust in elected officials by reducing corruption and dependency on big donors.
- Levels the playing field for first-time and community-based candidates.
- Increases voter engagement by showing that small donations count.
Barriers:
- Federal gridlock and Supreme Court precedent.
- Corporate lobbying that benefits from the status quo.
The Path Forward:
- Win state- and city-level pilot programs to demonstrate impact.
- Champion local ordinances limiting contributions and boosting transparency.
- Tell stories of candidates (like Jamaal Bowman or AOC) whose grassroots fundraising changed the game.
Influence doesn’t always shout—it also redraws the map in silence. Even with fair funding rules, skewed district lines can silence majorities and entrench power. The next fault line lies in the invisible cartography of gerrymandering.
Gerrymandering: Democracy’s Cartographic Crime
The Problem: Gerrymandering is the strategic manipulation of district lines to favor one party or group. It allows parties to maintain power even with a minority of the vote, and it suppresses competition and accountability.
The Reform: Independent redistricting commissions, algorithmic auditing tools, and clear standards for compactness, fairness, and community integrity.
Why It Matters:
- Ensures voters choose their representatives, not the other way around.
- Leads to more competitive elections and more responsive governance.
- Reduces extremism by requiring candidates to appeal to broader constituencies.
Barriers:
- State legislatures that control redistricting won’t give up power voluntarily.
- Courts that have failed to consistently strike down partisan maps.
The Path Forward:
- Pass ballot initiatives creating independent commissions (as Michigan did).
- Use technology like PlanScore to expose bias in maps.
- Empower local coalitions to testify during map-drawing processes.
And even where maps are fair and financing is balanced, many Americans never make it to the ballot at all. Suppression isn’t just historic. It’s evolving, subtle, and deeply strategic. The final barrier to a truly representative democracy is access itself.
Voter Suppression & Ballot Access: The Democracy Bottleneck
The Problem: From restrictive voter ID laws to purging voter rolls and reducing polling locations, too many Americans, especially Black, Indigenous, Latinx, low-income, and young voters, are systematically obstructed from voting.
The Reform:
- Automatic and same-day voter registration.
- Expanded early voting and vote-by-mail.
- Restoration of rights for formerly incarcerated people.
Why It Matters:
- Increases turnout, especially among first-time and disengaged voters.
- Addresses the disproportionate impact of suppression on marginalized communities.
- Affirms that voting is a right, not a privilege or a test.
Barriers:
- Court decisions gutting the Voting Rights Act.
- State-level power grabs justified by false voter fraud narratives.
The Path Forward:
- Litigate using state constitutions and civil rights statutes.
- Organize turnout campaigns in disenfranchised communities.
- Elevate stories of voters denied their voice because empathy can change laws when outrage alone cannot.
Taken together, these failures form a system designed to resist change and discourage participation. But systems don’t just persist. They’re upheld or dismantled by human hands. If democracy is to survive, electoral reform must become our shared work, not just policy but principle.
Democracy, if We Make It
In 1974, I believed electoral reform was a matter of time, inevitable in a nation that claimed to champion democratic ideals. But decades later, I’ve learned that change isn’t inevitable. Power concedes nothing voluntarily. Every reform we need, every fix for every fault line, has been opposed not because it wouldn’t work, but because it might.
What we face is not a lack of good ideas. It’s a failure of courage, of accountability, and of imagination.
But I also know this: we’ve seen breakthroughs before. Voter-led ballot initiatives have beaten gerrymandering. Ranked Choice Voting has toppled entrenched power in cities and states. Grassroots organizers have expanded ballot access in places once defined by suppression. These victories weren’t handed down from Washington. They were willed into being by people who refused to wait.
That’s the real lesson of the last 50 years. Electoral reform won’t come from above. It will come from us. From local organizing and relentless pressure. From voters who understand that a rigged system produces rigged outcomes, not just in elections, but in healthcare, housing, climate, and justice. Reform is not a single issue. It is the issue that decides the fate of all others.
So, if democracy is worth saving, and I believe it is, then we have to be the ones to save it. Not someday. Not after the next crisis. But now.
Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It isn’t something we inherit. It’s something we make.
Recommended Resources
| Topic | |
|---|---|
| Ranked Choice Voting | FairVote RCV Resource Hub |
| Electoral College | National Popular Vote Compact Info |
| Campaign Finance | Brennan Center: Money in Politics |
| Gerrymandering | Princeton Gerrymandering Project |
| Voter Suppression | Brennan Center Voting Rights |
| Action-Oriented Tools | Democracy Labs Toolkit |