Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Meet the change leaders: Kevin Johnson, Election Reformers Network

Man at a podium with American Promise logo

Kevin Johnson, speaking at an American Promise event.

Courtesy Kevin Johnson

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Kevin Johnson is co-founder and executive director of Election Reformers Network, a nonpartisan nonprofit advancing innovations that protect elections from polarization. Since 2017, Johnson has led ERN’s research and advocacy programs focused on impartial election administration, independent redistricting and voting rules. He draws on decades of experience supporting emerging democracies overseas and advancing reforms in the United States.


Johnson is also a member of the Election Expert Study Team of the Carter Center, where he assists the U.S. Elections Program. He serves on advisory bodies of American Promise and Rank The Vote.

Johnson co-authored the first comprehensive study of secretary of state conflict of interest and pioneered the top-two proportional approach to Electoral College reform and the nominating commission approach to secretary of state selection. He has published more than two dozen op-eds on a wide range of reform topics in media outlets including The Washington Post, The Hill, Governing, Commonwealth Magazine, The Daily Beast and The Fulcrum.

At the National Democratic Institute, Johnson directed election observations in the West Bank and Gaza, Indonesia, and several countries in Africa, and organized advisory consultations for constitution drafters in new democracies, among other programs. With Common Cause, Johnsonled a successful anti-Citizens-United ballot question campaign in Newton, Mass., and helped organize citizen participation in the highly regarded 2011 Massachusetts redistricting process, among other efforts.

In 2002, Johnson co-founded Liberty Global Partners, an investment advisory firm focused on venture capital and private equity in emerging markets. At Liberty Global, he has led capital marketing initiatives that raised more than $6 billion for investment funds targeting China, India, Brazil, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. Johnson has an MBA from Wharton and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Yale University.

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Johnson in April for the CityBiz “Meet the Change Leaders” series. Watch to learn the full extent of the democracy reform work that Kevin does:

The Fulcrum Democracy Forum Meets Kevin Johnson, Executive Director of Election Reformers Networkyoutu.be


Read More

An illustration of a paper that says "Ranked-Choice" with options listed below.
Image generated by IVN staff.

Why Mathematicians Love Ranked Choice Voting

The Institute for Mathematics and Democracy (IMD) has released what may be the most comprehensive empirical study of ranked choice voting ever conducted. The 66-page report analyzes nearly 4,000 real-world ranked ballot elections, including some 2,000 political elections, and more than 60 million simulated ones to test how different voting methods perform.

The study’s conclusion is clear. Ranked choice voting methods outperform traditional first-past-the-post elections on nearly every measure of democratic fairness.

Keep ReadingShow less
Three people looking at a gerrymandered map, with an hourglass in the foreground.
Image generated by IVN staff.

Missouri’s Gerrymander Faces a Citizen Veto, but State Officials Aren't Taking 'No' for an Answer

People Not Politicians (PNP) submitted over 305,000 signatures last week to freeze a congressional gerrymander passed by the Missouri Legislature in September. However, state officials are doing everything they can to pretend this citizen revolt isn’t happening.

“The citizens of Missouri have spoken loudly and clearly: they deserve fair maps, not partisan manipulation,” said PNP Executive Director Richard von Glahn.

Keep ReadingShow less
Let's End Felony Disenfranchisement. Virginia May Lead the Way

Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger promises major reforms to the state’s felony disenfranchisement system.

Getty Images, beast01

Let's End Felony Disenfranchisement. Virginia May Lead the Way

When Virginia’s Governor-Elect, Abigail Spanberger, takes office next month, she will have the chance to make good on her promise to do something about her state’s outdated system of felony disenfranchisement. Virginia is one of just three states where only the governor has the power to restore voting rights to felons who have completed their prison terms.

It is the only state that also permanently strips a person’s rights to be a public notary or run for public office for a felony conviction unless the governor restores them.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation highlights the Primary Problem—tiny slivers of voters deciding elections. Here’s why primary reform and open primaries matter.

Getty Images, Anna Moneymaker

Marjorie Taylor Greene Resigns: The Primary Problem Exposes America’s Broken Election System

The Primary Problem strikes again. In announcing her intention to resign from Congress in January, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) became the latest politician to quit rather than face a primary challenge from her own party.

It’s ironic that Rep. Greene has become a victim of what we at Unite America call the "Primary Problem," given that we often point to her as an example of the kind of elected official our broken primary system produces. As we wrote about her and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “only a tiny sliver of voters cast meaningful votes that elected AOC and MTG to Congress – 7% and 20%, respectively.”

Keep ReadingShow less