Shawn Griffiths
Shawn is an election reform expert and National Editor of IVN.us. He studied history and philosophy at the University of North Texas. He joined the IVN team in 2012.
Articles by Shawn
Open Primaries President: Voters Don't Trust Reformers Right Now; We Need to Earn That Trust
The nonprofit reform group Open Primaries hosted its first Primary Buzz Discussion of 2025 last week. But this conversation worked differently as Open Primaries President John Opdycke was the one being interviewed.
'It's The Economy, Stupid': Poll Spotlights Biggest Area of Common Ground among Voters
Over the last week, The Independent Center released the second and third installments to its 2025 State of the Union Poll, one of which compared and contrasted the views of independent voters and Republicans and the other compared independents and Democrats.
Virginia Senate Advances Bill to Expand Ranked Choice Voting in Local Elections
The Virginia Senate approved a bill Monday that would expand the authority of local governments to conduct elections using ranked choice voting (RCV). The bill (SB1009) grants cities, counties, and towns the ability to implement RCV for all elections.
What Is USAID and Can the President Abolish It?
The head offices of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) were closed Monday after staffers were told by email not to come to work. It is the latest move in the Trump administration's plan to shut down the agency.
5 Things Americans Agree on at The Start of Trump's Second Term
More In Common, a nonprofit dedicated to finding ways to bridge political divisions in the US, released a new report that spotlights key areas of agreement across the political spectrum in the early days of the Trump administration.
National Poll: Most Independent Voters Want Trump to Reach Across the Aisle
Independent voters are dissatisfied with the US government and want to see Republicans and Democrats work together under the Trump administration. This is according to a new poll released by The Independent Center.
Oklahoma City Mayor: Our Partisan Politics Is a Consequence of Partisan Primary Elections
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt sat down with former RNC chair and MSNBC commentator Michael Steele to talk about the difference between the partisan politics in DC versus the more pragmatic outcomes at the local level.
Gallup: National Independent ID Remains at Record High
Gallup has released its annual look back at what party affiliation looked like in the previous year. What it found was independent ID remained steady at a record-high 43% from 2023 to 2024.
Utah Senate Majority Leader Introduces Resolution to Protect State Sovereignty, Combat Foreign Influence in Elections
Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore last week introduced a resolution in support of a constitutional amendment designed to restore states' authority to regulate campaign finance laws. The announcement came just days before the anniversary of the infamous Citizens United Supreme Court ruling.
A 2024 Analysis Shows the Undeniable Force of the Independent Vote
Independent voters showcased how critical of a voting bloc they were in the 2024 elections. What's more, they showed that despite the claim that they are "party leaners," they were not committed to candidates of a single party.