Articles by Alexa Mikalaski

In a country that often feels divided between two camps, the Republicans and the Democrats, independent voters could really be the future of politics in America. While polarized, if not combative, politics are nothing new (e.g., the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 that tore the nation apart), there is something undeniably different about the political climate that we have had for the last few years. Independents know it too, as made obvious by the substantial amounts of voters leaving bot...

We’ve all heard of the debates between top democrats, but what about all the other candidates running for President? Elevate the Debate is a collaborative effort between Free and Equal Elections Foundation and Open the Debates, who have teamed up to produce at least two Open Presidential Debates this year, including a first-of-its-kind cross-partisan debate during the primary season on March 4th in Chicago at 2pm CST. There are 21 confirmed presidential candidates from across the political s...

A legal challenge, filed by Level the Playing Field, and joined by the Green Party of the United States and the Libertarian National Committee, to the Commission on Presidential Debate's rulemaking and tax-exempt status will be heard by a federal judge in the DC Circuit on February 24th. The lawsuit, “concerns violations of federal law by two institutions the Democratic and Republican parties have used to perpetuate their duopoly: the Commission on PresidentialDebates (“CPD”), an organization t...

The most basic right in a healthy democracy is the right to vote. Without this right, governments can turn into the worst of autocracies and dictatorships, ignoring the needs of citizens and abusing the power of the state. Voter discrimination is not a new phenomenon and has been around since the very beginning of the United States. When we talk about voter discrimination in the U.S., many obvious examples come to mind. When our country was formed in 1776, only white men over the age of 21 w...

What are some of the benefits surrounding adopting a top-four primary using Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in San Diego? What are some potential concerns voters have? This past week, the Independent Voter Project, League of Women Voters San Diego, RepresentUs, Fairvote, and independent Councilmember Mark Kersey set out to find answers to some of these very questions with local San Diegans and fellow reformers. Not only was there a discussion about the promising election reform, which has recently b...

As 2019 comes to a close we want to wrap up the year with a review of our most popular stories on nonpartisan reform and unfiltered political news. Unfortunately, many top stories are rife with fine examples of how parties rig the election process -- from denying Bernie the Democratic nomination to Donald Trump’s impeachment. But there’s good news! Major reform initiatives took shape shape in 2019, and we’re expecting the momentum to continue heading into 2020. 2019 Year in Review IVN POLL:...

On December 6, 2019 nonpartisan reformers from across the country descended on Denver, Colorado for the second annual summit of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers (NANR). The summit concluded with an award ceremony recognizing three remarkable individuals for their unparalleled commitment and leadership to advancing revolutionary, nonpartisan change to our current political system.     2019 NANR Summit Honorees Kyle Bailey Kyle Bailey, the campaign manager for the Committe...

A new survey by the Independent Voter Project (IVP) asked people if they believe our country was heading in the right or wrong direction and what they believe is the biggest problem in politics today. After garnering over 1,000 responses, here is what IVP found: It is no secret that the US political environment is toxic right now, and as the country jumps from one election cycle to the other, it seems the ever-increasing partisan rhetoric never ends and is only getting worse. Voters, meanwhi...

5 million New Yorkers are set to vote on the measure, which if passed, voters will be able to rank up to 5 candidates in primary and special elections for Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council beginning in January 2021....