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Writing for the Santa Fe New Mexican, Richard Block, a co-founder of Santa Fe Public Radio, avers: "Open primaries are nuts." Block begins his piece by saying: "Every year the subject of open versus closed primary elections comes up, and every year I am bewildered beyond comprehension that there is such mind-numbing ignorance concerning the only — yes, the only — purpose for primary elections. The one and only purpose of a primary is for the members of a political party — a private club — to s

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is leaning strongly toward running for president in 2020 as a third-party candidate -- the wisest course for him. But if he does, he should make systemic political reform part of his agenda. That’s because, out of sight of most of the media, there’s a growing movement around the country actively working to “unrig” a system that now works for the Republican and Democratic Parties, their donors and affiliated special interests, rather than the American people. The movement

Washington, D.C. - Ohio will be the first state in the nation to use blockchain technology for tax payments. Businesses will be able to pay 23 types of taxes via bitcoin. But if blockchain is secure enough for a government to collect money from companies, why hasn't it been given the green light for widespread use in securing our votes? West Virginia used a new blockchain pilot program to allow military men and women, as well as their families, to cast their votes in the midterm elections usin

In her article, The "California Republican Party is Dead; A New Way Must Rise," Kristin Olsen makes the claim that the national Republican Party of today does not live up to its former principles of individual liberties, economic opportunity, and global leadership in education. Until the party distances itself from President Trump's brand of politics, Olsen continues, the Republican option will cease to be viable. There are millions of Republicans like Olsen who are disappointed by the current

There were two elections on November 6. The first was a national referendum on President Trump that saw Democrats win a majority in the House of Representatives after nearly a decade out of power, while Republicans added seats in the Senate. The national election results continue to be the subject of endless punditry as races in Arizona were reversed and returns in Florida were subject to mandatory recount. It was a contest between two parties – Team Red and Team Blue – that will end up costin

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - The biggest story in the 2018 election cycle was not what color of wave we saw. It was not President Donald Trump using the Ecuadorian immigrant caravan as a campaign issue. It was not the Democrats’ focus on the president’s behavior while holding the Oval Office. The biggest story in 2018 was the voter revolt against the political status quo. Political and election reform had its most groundbreaking year in half a century, and most media outlets didn’t pay attention. From

IVN Author Wes Messamore and I take the Friday before Thanksgiving to talk about civility in the US, and the ability to forgive and lend a hand to those in distress, exemplified by Republican representative-elect and  Lt. Commander Dan Crenshaw's response to a widely criticized SNL joke, as well as our broad response to help those who have been affected by the California wildfires. In the top news of the week, the results are in for the first US House race to be decided by ranked choice voting,

This is my post-election column where I analyze the impact of independent voters who came out in force last Tuesday, almost 34 million of us. Huge. The stats and takeaways are at the end of this column, dear reader, so if you prefer to cut to that chase, scroll on down. Suffice it to say that independents are swinging between cycles of disruption and cycles of stabilization, all the while searching for systemic changes that will take us to new ground. Independent rather than partisan ground. Th

SANTA FE, N.M. - The Open Primaries Education Fund filed a lawsuit Wednesday against New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, challenging the public funding of the state's closed primary elections. Only registered party members can participate in the primaries, yet the burden falls on all taxpayers to foot the bill for these elections. OPEF says it has retained the New Mexico based law firm, Bardacke Allison, which is headed by former Attorney General Paul Bardacke. At issue is the

I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I am an independent who believes that at this moment of partisan dysfunction and division that the health of American democracy depends on the capacity of the American people to come together, to grow and to develop. While the media is saturating us with a focus on the results of who won and who lost in the midterm elections, my attention is drawn to signs of the emergence of a bottom up nonpartisan developmental politic in our country that breaks throu