Articles by Courtney Pittam

It’s called Score Runoff Voting, and it’s about to take Oregon by storm. SRV is a relatively new concept from the minds of Mark Frohnmayer, political scion and founder of the Equal Vote Coalition, and score voting advocate Clay Shentrup, Co-Founder of the Center for Election Science, who were inspired by ranked choice voting advocate and executive director of FairVote Rob Richie's concept of a single approval voting primary/ranked choice runoff ballot. In some ways, the idea for SRV started wi...

From the Revolutionary War to the Watergate scandal, journalism has always held an important place in the political sphere. However, the concept of modern journalism can appear bleak and disappointing, constructed more as an attention-getting ruse rather than an objective means of imparting essential information to the public. News or Entertainment? Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see entire articles devoted to a single tweet or outfit choice of a political figure. Even NBC News stooped to th...

The responses to the election results have been all but calm with anti-Trump protests breaking out all across the country. Social media platforms like Facebook are plagued with harsh commentary from individuals and organizations on both sides of the election. Half of America is celebrating, while the other half is in crippling denial. With so many dazed Hillary Clinton supporters looking to place blame, many accuse Facebook for allowing falsified and misleading posts about the presidential cand...

Donald Trump has ended the Democratic streak in the White House by being elected as the first Republican president in eight years. With both the House of Representatives and the Senate consisting of primarily Republicans, Congress will no longer be fighting against a Democratic president. This is the second time in the past eighty-four years that the entirety of Congress and the White House have been controlled by the Republican Party. According to The New York Times: "Mr. Trump’s victory pro...

The way Maine conducts its elections is about to change. Question 5, the Maine Ranked Choice Voting initiative, was approved by 52 percent of state voters, becoming the first state to end plurality voting for statewide races. “Passage of Question 5 is a historic victory for the people of Maine,” said campaign chair Dick Woodbury. “Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Greens, and Libertarians across Maine understand that the system is broken, and they have taken an important step to help fix it...

This week, third party candidates Gov. Gary Johnson and Dr. Jill Stein took part in a candidate forum that aired on PBS over two nights. There were no interruptions, no personal jabs, and candidates spoke only to the questions and issues. The candidates' podiums stood next to each other. They were given about 90 seconds to answer each question, and both Johnson and Stein appeared committed to a real discussion on real issues. This is what a presidential debate or forum should look like. Debates...

Alaskan independent candidate Margaret Stock is one of 5 candidates running to unseat Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R). Recognizing the challenges of running against an incumbent, Stock still believes that she can win the race if she can build strong enough name recognition before November 8. Stock's resume boasts work at the Pentagon, service as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Military Police, U.S. Army Reserve, and teaching at both the United States Military Academy at West Point and the Un...

Third party support has reached its highest levels in decades. While it remains highly unlikely for a third party candidate to win the presidential election, there are still significant possibilities that could result from this increased popularity, including a radical reshaping of the political landscape. Read More: Breaking Through The Duopoly: A Brief History of Third Parties in America Retaining a certain percentage of the popular vote, for example, could prove revolutionary in regards to ...

The presence of social media in politics has boomed recently in light of the forthcoming presidential election as candidates scramble for every last vote. Although platforms like Twitter and Facebook provide invaluable networking opportunities for candidates, one can't help but wonder if this election has become more of a popularity contest than a presidential campaign. Tweet All About It Although there is much debate as to whether Twitter's impact is positive or negative, none can deny the i...