logo

POTUS Candidates Push Election Reforms that Favor Them, Not Voters

image
Shawn M GriffithsShawn M Griffiths
Published: 16 Mar, 2015
1 min read
The Washington Post reported Monday that the way voters participate in presidential primary elections, who will be allowed to participate, and when may change in a handful of states based on how particular systems will help an individual candidate.

"Earlier this month, Kentucky Republicans took the first step toward abandoning a presidential primary in favor of a caucus, at the behest of Sen. Rand Paul. Elsewhere, supporters of more centrist candidates such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Republican, and former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Republican, are pushing for primaries they believe will attract a more moderate electorate than caucus contests, which typically draw a more vocal conservative crowd." - Reid Wilson, The Washington Post

Some states are also trying to move up their primary dates so they play a bigger role in deciding party nominees.

Read the full story here.

The scary thing is the laws that decide who can vote, how they vote, and when they vote are not only designed to benefit the party -- instead of voters -- but members of state legislatures are willing to alter elections laws just to benefit a single candidate.

You Might Also Like

Ballrooms, Ballots, and a Three-Way Fight for New York
Ballrooms, Ballots, and a Three-Way Fight for New York
The latest Independent Voter Podcast episode takes listeners through the messy intersections of politics, reform, and public perception. Chad and Cara open with the irony of partisan outrage over trivial issues like a White House ballroom while overlooking the deeper dysfunctions in our democracy. From California to Maine, they unpack how the very words on a ballot can tilt entire elections and how both major parties manipulate language and process to maintain power....
30 Oct, 2025
-
1 min read
California Prop 50 gets an F
Princeton Gerrymandering Project Gives California Prop 50 an 'F'
The special election for California Prop 50 wraps up November 4 and recent polling shows the odds strongly favor its passage. The measure suspends the state’s independent congressional map for a legislative gerrymander that Princeton grades as one of the worst in the nation....
30 Oct, 2025
-
3 min read
bucking party on gerrymandering
5 Politicians Bucking Their Party on Gerrymandering
Across the country, both parties are weighing whether to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Texas, California, Missouri, North Carolina, Utah, Indiana, Colorado, Illinois, and Virginia are all in various stages of the action. Here are five politicians who have declined to support redistricting efforts promoted by their own parties....
31 Oct, 2025
-
4 min read