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The Libertarian Party continues to bask in a historic election year, gaining party status and ballot access in more states in 2016. The general platform of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism/tolerance/openness is striking a cord with many voters looking for alternatives outside the two-party political structure. In some states, like Iowa, the local Libertarian Party is celebrating major party status. However, other Libertarian Parties must fight Republican and Democratic forces to gain t

A wave of bills aimed at reforming primary elections in four states were introduced last month. Legislators in Idaho, New Mexico, Illinois, and Virginia are looking to do away with their state’s partisan primary in favor of a nonpartisan top-two system. A top-two primary is where all candidates, regardless of party affiliation appear on the same primary ballot and the top-two vote-getters advance to the general election in November. Idaho Idaho State Senator Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, explained

Unaffiliated voters and candidates alike have historically been overlooked by Illinois' election code. But this year, elections in Illinois may get a makeover. Legislators have introduced several bills in January, all aimed at reforming the Prairie State’s exclusionary elections. Rep. Scott Drury: HB 0330 HB 0330, sponsored by Rep. Scott Drury (D-Highwood), eliminates the requirement that voters declare a party in order to participate in primary elections. Under Rep. Drury’s bill, a voter is

This piece, written by Rob Richie, originally appeared in Cato Unbound as the lead essay in a series on ranked choice voting in December of 2016. American democracy today is working more poorly than it has in generations. Even as the toxic 2016 presidential campaign featured the two most unpopular major party candidates in modern history and Congress has historic lows in approval, minor party presidential challengers were marginalized, and nearly 98% of congressional incumbents won re-election.

Recently, Real Clear Politics extrapolated demographic trends to project which states are likely to gain or lose U.S. House seats in the reapportionment that will occur after the 2020 Census. Their forecast, shown below, has nine states losing one U.S. House seat and six states gaining seats. These are only projections, but given that we are now six years into the decade, many of the demographic shifts of the decade are already well advanced and difficult to reverse. Overall, we see a reduced n

For those who have paid close attention to President Barack Obama’s national energy policy, Sunday’s decision to deny the already approved permits to finish construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline came as little surprise. Last year, President Obama issued an executive order that killed the Keystone XL pipeline, despite the fact his own State Department issued a report stating the pipeline would have no impact on carbon emissions and would not harm the environment. Of the numerous political

The court ruling to end extreme political gerrymandering in Wisconsin may have reverberations in neighboring Illinois. As IVN previously reported, the Wisconsin Republican Party was free to draw districts which ensured the GOP would retain a majority of legislative seats. A 2-1 federal court decision overturned the precedent that it is permissible to dilute the power of voters based on political party. The Wisconsin attorney general has announced his intention to appeal the decision. The case

Illinois is one step away from becoming the seventh state to institute automatic voter registration. In August, Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed Illinois Senate Bill 250, an automatic voter registration bill. The Illinois Senate Thursday overrode the Republican governor’s veto 38-18. The Illinois House is expected to vote on overriding the governor’s veto after Thanksgiving. Illinois Senate Bill 250 automatically registers individuals to vote when they conduct business at state agencies, such as a

This election was historic for the movement to break big money’s grip on our political system. On November 8, 2016, voters in South Dakota passed the first-ever statewide Anti-Corruption Act. This ballot initiative was led by Represent.Us volunteers and members. In San Francisco, a Represent.Us volunteer-led coalition passed a new law to stop lobbyists from bribing politicians. It passed by one of the widest margins of any law in San Francisco history. In two Illinois counties, conservatives a

Last Monday, FairVote released our 2016 general election presidential campaign tracker. This tracker, which has been regularly used this fall by National Popular Vote, looks at where major party candidates for president and vice-president have been rallying their supporters at events that are open to the public, free and intended to influence local voters. Our data for the tracker is based on local news reports and the campaigns’ public schedules. As anyone familiar with current Electoral Colle