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Democracy Madness final pits ranked-choice vs. presidential voting

Final bracket
Tristiaña Hinton/The Fulcrum

There are officially no No. 1 seeds left in Democracy Madness, our reader-driven contest to pick the fan favorite proposal for fixing what's broken in our political system.

The Cinderella story of the 64-idea tournament, the eleventh seeded National Popular Vote Compact, takes on a second seed, ranked-choice voting, in the championship round.



The idea of getting states to pledge their electoral votes to the national (not their own) winner of the presidential popular vote defeated one of the top seeds in the tournament, conducting all elections with paper ballots. To this point, it had already knocked out ideas like creating independent commissions to draw legislative districts, which had been the biggest upset of the tournament — until now.

RCV, where voters list candidates in order of preference and instant runoffs produce the consensus choice, has continued its coast to the championship round, most recently besting the repeal of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. That is the second No. 1 seed RCV has taken down, after toppling the call for a new Voting Rights Act to win the banner in the Voting region.

Now it's time for you to decide which idea will be the champion of Democracy Madness. Can the National Popular Vote Compact continue its Cinderella story and become the belle of the ball? Or will RCV knock it out without a fight like all its other competitors?

Cast your vote now. The winner will be crowned Monday.


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Presidential powers: Corporate abuses big concern after SCOTUS move

An oil production operation is shown in North Dakota. With the U.S. Supreme Court granting more presidential powers to the executive branch, environmental groups warned key agencies will have a harder time going after polluters.

(Adobe Stock)

Presidential powers: Corporate abuses big concern after SCOTUS move

A U.S. Supreme Court opinion issued last month expands presidential power over independent federal agencies, prompting warnings from environmental advocates about potential implications for states such as North Dakota.

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Photo by ameenfahmy on Unsplash

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Politics, for all its stagecraft and saccharine homilies, is not about "service" or "community" or any of the other treacly euphemisms politicians recite like Gregorian chants. Politics, as Christopher Hitchens might have acidly reminded us, is about power.

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Composer uses music to connect Latino heritage and environmental justice

Cover Photo: Chris Oquist in Black and White.

Chris Oquist

Composer uses music to connect Latino heritage and environmental justice

CHICAGO — Climate change is often measured through scientific reports and statistics. For Chicago-based composer Chris Oquist, it is something audiences can hear.

On Saturday, Oquist performed “Derivas Liminares” as part of the Chicago Art Department’s fourth annual Contra Corriente Festival. The performance benefited the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO), a nonprofit that advocates for environmental protections in Pilsen, one of Chicago’s largest Latino neighborhoods. Oquist’s performance was one of several events held during the festival, which centers on environmental and racial justice.

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