Independent voters have become a decisive force at the ballot box. The next question is whether that influence can translate into lasting political power.
Pennsylvania's House passed a bill to open primaries to 1.5 million independent voters, but in 63 legislative races this year, only one candidate is running in November, making the primary the only real election.
A new AI chatbot called Voter Count lets anyone ask plain-English questions about 217 million registered voters, making demographic and voting data accessible without expensive contracts or technical expertise.
Republicans charge the Independents with being secret Democrats. The Democrats' lead on the generic ballot has swung six points in four months. Do the polls show people are buying that argument?
In California's top-two primary system, Marin and Sonoma County's Assembly race between two Democrats will be decided by independent voters. Jackie Elward and Eric Lucan differ sharply on AI regulation, wealth taxes, and progressive priorities.
Three cities will vote on ranked choice voting in November. The ballot measures in Irvine, California; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Longmont, Colorado represent a test of whether voters will support election reform when it's removed from partisan national politics.
The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to use Social Security records to verify voter citizenship, raising questions about balancing election security with privacy protections that Congress warned against for decades.
