logo

Smells Like Independent Spirit: Nirvana's Krist Novoselic and the Fight for Better Elections

Krist Novoselic
David Lee on Flickr. CC license
Created: 18 March, 2024
1 min read

Photo Credit: David Lee / Flickr

 

Former presidential candidate and co-founder of the Forward Party Andrew Yang sat down with Nirvana co-founder Krist Novoselic, who went from changing the status quo in music to bringing that independent spirit to the political arena and the fight for better elections.

Novoselic is a well-known figure. Along with being the co-founder of an industry changing and genre re-defining rock band, he transitioned from the music scene to local politics in Seattle and became an advocate for nonpartisan election reforms like ranked choice voting and proportional representation.

In many respects, Novoselic was ahead of the curve on reforming the way the US elects public officials. He even served as chair of the nonpartisan better elections group, FairVote. 

Yang and Novoselic discuss Nirvana, the transition from the independent music scene to independent politics, how elections today fail to inspire and incentivize participation because they are all but pre-determined, and how fair and simple the solution to this is.

"When you talk to people about it, you can get that 1000-yard stare. It's really deep policy," Novoselic said. "There is something about having a message that people can respond to."

Watch the full conversation between Yang and Novoselic above.

More Choice for San Diego

Latest articles

Voter
Rally for Open Primaries: 2024 Reforms Offer Every Voter a Seat at the Table
Hundreds of US voters gathered Monday to not only celebrate a historic year in nonpartisan election reform, but also show their support for several 2024 ballot initiatives that promote equal voting rights for all citizens in taxpayer-funded elections....
23 October, 2024
-
4 min read
Kamala Harris
Citizen Data: Female Candidates Face Uphill Battle in 2024
Are US voters ready for a madam president? How willing are they to vote for women at the federal level? Citizen Data looked at these questions and what voters' responses might mean for the 2024 election cycle and beyond....
23 October, 2024
-
4 min read
people
Closed Primaries: The Biggest Voter Suppression Mechanism in Use Today
The nonpartisan reform group Open Primaries released a new video that highlights the current state of a growing movement to reform the way critical taxpayer-funded primary elections are conducted in the US....
22 October, 2024
-
1 min read