The national story is about which party gains seats. However, this obscures the local impact. Even if temporary, many voters in California will not have the same voting power they had in previous election cycles....

Mail-in ballots are out, and voting has begun in California’s June 2 primary. This election, though, is not just about who wins power. It is also a fight over who voters trust to run the system....

The DC City Council has refused to fully fund and implement Initiative 83, the semi-open primary and ranked choice voting measure that was approved by 73% of voters in 2024....

The message from party leaders on both sides is predicated on a hypothetical – a “doomsday scenario” that will scare their voters into thinking the worst possible outcome will happen if they don’t “chip in.”...

Neither of the two Republican candidates in the governor’s race, Hilton or Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, have gained ground as more undecided voters make their pick in the race or settle on a candidate....

On Bill Maher’s HBO show last week, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore took aim at closed primary systems, saying the process “has run its course” and noted that the fastest growing segment of the US electorate are independent voters. ...

Primary elections in Washington, DC, are coming up in June. However, while three-quarters of the city’s electorate voted for them to be open to independent voters, they won’t be – because city officials refuse to make the switch from a closed partisan system....

Independent voters in New Mexico will be able to participate in the state’s primary elections in 2026 without first joining a major political party — and one reform group is launching a statewide campaign to make sure they know it....

California voters are set to decide whether to add voter ID to the state constitution, after election officials announced the California Voter ID Initiative cleared the signature threshold needed for the 2026 ballot. ...