Articles by Shawn M Griffiths

Update: Despite passing with strong majorities in both chambers of the legislature, it has come to my attention that the ranked choice voting bill in Maine did not make its way to the governor's desk. Due to an 11th hour procedural movement, the bill was sent back to the Senate. According to the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, the bill is not dead. There is still an opportunity to pass it when the legislature meets later this summer to address the governor's vetoes and bond packages.  Thank ...

California is headed for a disastrous presidential primary in 2020. Nearly 6 million registered citizens are denied a meaningful vote. Half a million voters have no idea they are registered with a third party, meaning they cannot cast a ballot for any candidate outside that party. Many voters will be confused. Millions more will be disenfranchised. It happened in 2016. It will happen again in 2020, unless something changes. I sat down with Independent Voter Project attorney Chad Peace to discu...

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span> US voters have overwhelmingly said they want a third candidate in presidential debates. As we look ahead to 2020, it seems the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates will once again deny them the opportunity. IVN contributor Wes Messamore and I go into the history of the debate commission, which has made it all but impossible for candidates outsid...

Since Howard Schultz announced that he was considering running for president as an independent, there has been much speculation about how his potential entry might affect the race in 2020. Specifically, howls of Schultz “spoiling” the race have been heard from Democratic candidates and operatives. The attacks on Schultz are eerily reminiscent of the recent attacks on Greg Orman during his 2018 run for Kansas governor as an independent. Orman’s race could provide important insight into how third...

Let's face it, from primary elections monopolized by the Democratic and Republican parties, to ballot access restrictions, to presidential debate rules, and the legal laundering of campaign contributions through political parties, the competition is unfairly stacked against anyone who doesn’t salute a party. The potential independent candidacy of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has sent party insiders -- particularly on the Democratic side -- into a tizzy. Yet his possible run gets to the h...

Tuesday, January 29, was supposed to be the airing of the State of the Union Address. However, after a 35-day shutdown, the president's yearly speech has been pushed to February 5. This change has not affected many, and while the president will likely focus on the economy to make the case that the state of the union is strong, Gallup has found that most Americans don't agree. Gallup released the results of a survey in January that found that only 28% of Americans were satisfied with the way th...

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced that he is considering an independent run for president, and it didn't take long for Democratic candidates, party insiders, members of the press, even the president to respond: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1089881244312178688 https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1089908709164228614 The last headline is important to note. Not because of the article itself, which is a lengthy love letter to Kamala Harris, but because of the term "centris...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NeikJyQkIo CNN reported Friday that US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard will run for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential race. Gabbard made the announcement during an interview slated to air at 7pm Saturday on "The Van Jones Show." "There are a lot of reasons for me to make this decision. There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve," said Gabbard. She added that she will be making th...

Americans continue to be more likely to identify as politically independent than with the Republican and Democratic parties. Gallup has continued to track this trend, with independents hovering over 40% of the voting population "Since 2011, the percentage of independents has exceeded the percentage identifying with the Democratic Party by 11 points on average, and the percentage identifying as Republicans by 14 points," writes Jeffrey M. Jones for Gallup. The problem though gets into polling o...