Articles by Alex Gauthier

In what’s quickly becoming a crowded field for president in 2020, the partisan media has already begun to dismiss all but a few presidential hopefuls both explicitly and implicitly. Whether it’s by excluding their names from national polls, declaring the candidacy dead on arrival, or simply spreading misinformation, it’s no accident that the path to 2020 is doubly hard for candidates who don’t parrot approved partisan talking points. There is one anti-establishment candidate, however, who might ...

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - Do you think there is too much foreign influence in government? Is more accountability needed? Well, Alaskan voters are doing something about it. The nonpartisan group, Alaskans for Integrity, is sponsoring an initiative for the 2018 ballot that would limit lawmakers' pay when they fail to pass a budget on time, restrict lobbyist gifts to politicians, increase protections against foreign influence on elections, and strengthen conflict of interest rules. The group announced ...

Independent and minor party candidates in Montana were handed a bittersweet victory in their bids to replace former Congressman Ryan Zinke. On April 8, Federal Judge Brian Morris ruled against Montana Secretary of State Cory Stapleton, finding that the signature requirement placed on non-major party candidates "severely burdens the constitutional rights of ballot access for independent candidates and minor party candidates." Green Party nominee Thomas Breck, independent candidate Steve Kelly, ...

The special election process to replace Congressman Ryan Zinke as Montana’s sole representative in the U.S. House is being challenged in court. Three plaintiffs are suing Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, challenging the Big Sky state’s onerous ballot access rules and questionable election schedule. Green Party nominee Thomas Breck, independent candidate Steve Kelly, and Green Party voter Danielle Breck filed the suit earlier this month. Their primary contention is the signature requ...

Perhaps one of the most counterintuitive hallmarks in American politics is the inverse trend between growing public dissatisfaction with government and the high incumbent re-election rate. Over 97 percent of Congress was re-elected last year in spite of growing anti-incumbent sentiment. Incumbency has many perks. In many states, one such perk is an election process with a high barrier to entry. Costly signature requirements (often only required for independent and ‘un-recognized’ political part...

Two law students from the University of Kentucky have embarked on a grassroots campaign to bring direct democracy to the bluegrass state. Vince Taormina and Ryan Mosley are the co-founders of the Kentucky People’s Alliance - a fledgeling effort to amend the state’s constitution to allow for voter-backed initiatives and referenda. Kentucky is one of 24 states where citizens have neither initiative nor referendum rights. At a time when voters’ dissatisfaction with government couldn’t be higher, T...

This week's explosive release of information from WikiLeaks regarding the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) cavalier use of surveillance techniques are still being unraveled. The release, referred to as "Year Zero," has so far shown that the intelligence agency exploited vulnerabilities in consumer products without notifying the manufacturer, putting the privacy of millions of customers at risk. In its release, WikiLeaks asserted: "The CIA had created, in effect, its "own NSA" with even less...

Third parties had their best showing in nearly two decades last November, but they still face major ballot access hurdles in future state elections across the country. Tennessee is a prime example. Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson ran as the Libertarian Party’s candidate for president and drew over 70,000 votes in the state which, theoretically, would give his party recognized status in the state. But Tre Hargett, the Tennessee secretary of state, has yet to provide clarity on the issue ...

Americans rely on the Internet now more than ever for news, information, and discussions about politics. According to Pew, nearly half of U.S adults between the ages of 18-49 rely primarily on the Internet and social media for their news, and 62 percent of all adults use a social network like Facebook or Reddit to get their news. Yet, as voters rely more heavily on the cloud for trustworthy information, few remain cognizant of how susceptible they really are to carefully crafted misinformation ...