On November 3, ranked choice voting goes on trial in three cities: Irvine, California; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Longmont, Colorado.
No city in Hawaii uses ranked choice voting, and the state capital could be the first. These are local questions about local elections, not the national party fights the pundits keep having.
The appetite for reform is not subtle. A new poll finds 56% of voters want to replace closed party primaries, and here's why: just 9% of voters already picked your Congress in low-turnout primaries.
That's why you don't want to miss IVP's big announcement on the latest episode of the Independent Voter Podcast: Trump and Mamdani Agree on this One Big Issue.
Meanwhile, the legal walls keep closing in on the closers. A federal judge sent the Texas GOP’s bid to shut its primary back to the Legislature, and Jeremy Gruber asks the bigger question: is Texas the beginning of the end for closed primary lawsuits?
Check out more stories that go outside the two-sided narrative below.
FEATURED ▶▶▶
3 More Cities Are About to Put Ranked Choice Voting to the Test
Irvine, Honolulu, and Longmont all vote on ranked choice voting November 3. California already has 7 RCV cities and Colorado has 5, but Honolulu could become the first city in Hawaii to adopt it. Shawn Griffiths on what each contest will test.
POPULAR ON IVN ▶▶▶
INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES ▶▶▶
Kevin Kiley Says He's Done Caucusing with Republicans. Senate Independents Want to Break the Caucus System Entirely
The caucus system is not in the Constitution, but it is how party leadership controls Congress. Kevin Kiley says he is done caucusing with Republicans, and Senate independents want to break the caucus system entirely. Matt Shinners reports.
VIRAL ▶▶▶
Fetterman Snaps: ‘I’m Not Going to Be a Republican’
Is John Fetterman switching parties? He says no, and he is out of patience with the question. Cornered at a Capitol elevator, the Pennsylvania Democrat snapped “I’m not going to be a Republican” and told reporters to “chill and wait for the midterm.” Whatever letter he keeps after his name, Pennsylvania’s fully closed primaries shut out roughly 1.4 million voters from elections their taxes fund, and a group of them, including broadcaster Michael Smerconish, is suing the state over it.
EVENT ▶▶▶
New York: Let Vets Vote
They swore an oath to defend the Constitution, then came home to a state that will not let them vote unless they join a party first. Join the Independent Voter Project and Independent Veterans of America this Wednesday, September 30 (6:30 to 8:30 PM) at Fraunces Tavern in New York City as we announce a lawsuit challenging New York’s closed primaries, which shut out 3.6 million voters, about 270,000 of them veterans. One room. One lawsuit. One coalition.
CALIFORNIA ▶▶▶
How Liberal Is Marin County, Really? Independent Voters Will Decide
Cara Brown McCormick on the Marin County Assembly race: two Democrats, one seat, and the independent voters who will decide how liberal Marin really is.
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SIGN UP NOWLATEST EPISODE ▶▶▶
Independent Voter Podcast
President Trump and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani met cordially at Gracie Mansion while trading scorched-earth rhetoric in public. The Independent Voter Podcast digs into the one issue the two actually agree on, and it is not what you think.
VETERANS ▶▶▶
Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
Navy veteran Bob Chew left the GOP, joined the Forward Party, and is now taking on John Hickenlooper and both major parties in Colorado. Paul Rieckhoff sits down with the independent challenger.
