A Conversation with State Representative Deb Lavender

Our representative democracy fundamentally depends on
participation from all citizens. Gerrymandering, along with our
primary system of voting, threatens the very core of true
representation. Further, our current campaign finance laws allow
dark money to enter the fray, distorting our ability to make
clear choices when voting on politicians and issues. In this
podcast episode, we talk with Missouri state representative Deb
Lavender and discuss how our current system disenfranchises
people and reduces our true sense of democracy. To mitigate these
depressing trends, we discuss new developments, such as ranked
choice voting, multi-winner districts and “top two” primary
elections. These new ideas are being implemented in other parts
of our country and may well put us back on the road to a more
perfect union.