Articles by Kevin Johnson

Gerrymandering has long eroded the competitiveness, representativeness, and accountability of our democracy. But in recent years, the problem has entered a dangerous phase — one in which both parties see no option but to fight with every weapon they can find....

For a democracy to function, one simple, central fact must be clear to all: who won. There is no disagreement about the winner of the Super Bowl or the Olympic gold medal in the shot put, and the same should be true for election results. But in polarized America, we’ve lost that clarity and public c...

Imagine a judge learning that the trial she’s just been assigned involves criminal charges against her husband’s company or a lawsuit against her child. It’s clear what would happen: The judge would recognize that she faces a conflict of interest and recuse herself from the case....

Editor's Note: The following opinion piece was written by Kevin Johnson of the Election Reformers Network. It originally published on The Fulcrum and was re-published on IVN with permission from the publisher. Photo by the Unsplash+ Community. The talk is all about President Joe Biden’s recent debate performance, whether he’ll be replaced at the top of the ticket and what it all means for the very concerning likelihood of another Trump presidency. These are critical questions. But Donald Trump...

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Ohio Capitol Journal. It has also been shared on Fulcrum.us. What would the NCAA do if the head referee in the Ohio State-Michigan game spent his free time leading rallies and fundraisers for the Wolverines? Even if he assured fans he’d be neutral for the game itself, Buckeye nation would never believe him. This scenario just happened in the political arena, in the campaign surrounding the August 8 Issue 1 ballot initiative. Ohio Secretary of...

Editor's Note: The following op-ed was authored by Kevin Johnson and Alexander Vanderklipp. Tuesday’s election for the open 7th seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court smashed records for campaign spending and drew huge media attention to the “most important election” of the year. When the votes were counted and liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz emerged ahead, declarations of “a victory for democracy” emerged from a range of organizations and media outlets. The result was clearly a political vict...

Editor's note: This op-ed originally published on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. Johnson is executive director of the Election Reformers Network. In recent months, we’ve gotten a crash course in the ways that our election systems are now dangerously vulnerable to partisan interference and disorder. Numerous candidates for secretary of state deny the results of the 2020 election, including several who are, or likely will be, their party’s nominee....

Editor's Note: This piece by Larry Diamond, Kevin Johnson, and Miles Rapoport originally published on The Hill, and has been republished with permission from the authors. ‍ Two secretaries of state were honored recently by the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico’s Democratic secretary of state, and Kyle Ardoin, Louisiana’s Republican secretary of state, received the organization’s prestigious Patriot Award on behalf of all U.S election officials, in recog...

Editor's Note: This article originally published on Governing and has been republished on IVN with permission from the author. ‍ Election specialists and national security experts have been gaming out scenarios for this November, assessing how candidates, supporters and media will respond if voting results are delayed or disputed. The 40 secretaries of state who are chief election officials also play important roles in these scenarios. Local-level officials handle ballot-counting and other key...