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Prominent legal scholar and political activist Larry Lessig has entered the 2016 race for the White House. Joining Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley for the Democratic nomination, Lessig has an unconventional platform. Aiming to become the first referendum president, Lessig has focused his entire campaign on passage of his Citizen’s Equality Act. The act consists of three fundamental electoral reforms that address the increasingly undemocratic nature of the American electoral

Florida's Supreme Court struck down much of the state's congressional districting map on July 9, ordering the redrawing of what it termed "constitutionally invalid" districts in 2 of the 27 districts (requiring a change to 8 congressional districts). Each district represents about 710,000 voters, making this one of the most significant court cases ever involving the practice of gerrymandering. In 2010, Florida's voters overwhelmingly approved (62.9%) a constitutional amendment with some of the

On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of independent redistricting commissions to redraw electoral districts. The ruling was a major victory for voters, because it also validated the citizen initiative process and the voter's right to decide how they are governed. But the legal battle over redistricting is far from over. Politico reported Tuesday that major litigation remains in key battleground states ahead of the 2016 elections. Continued redistrictin

A new North Carolina law aiming to protect court officials' religious freedoms may create a stumbling block for not only same-sex couples wanting to marry, but all couples who want to get hitched. Senate Bill 2 became law earlier this month, allowing magistrates to recuse themselves from performing marriages, and assistant and deputy registers of deeds to choose not to issue marriage licenses. Though the law does not specifically reference same-sex marriage, LGBT advocates say the move clearly

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, Evenwel v. Abbott. The case centers on what constitutes the principle of 'one person, one vote,' which came out of the 1964 Reynolds v. Sims decision. The group behind the challenge is a a 501(c)(3) organization called the Project on Fair Representation. The same group successfully challenged key provisions of the Voting Rights Act in the case, Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder in 2013. The plaintiffs contend that Texas' State Senate distri

While media attention has surrounded the events in Baltimore, the Obama administration has taken part in the negotiations of a Trans-Pacific Partnership involving 12 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam. The countries involved comprise around $27.7 trillion in gross domestic product (around 40% of the global GDP). A successful implementation of this partnership would result in about $110 billion per cou

Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the network of small-government advocacy groups steered by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, is expanding into new states and attracting new donors in its efforts leading into 2016. A leaked document details plans to enhance the network's data system and bring on hundreds of staff in communities across the nation.  These preparations indicate a massive get-out-the-vote effort that has never been seen from a group that isn't the Democratic or Repu

NORTH CAROLINA -- Recently proposed bills in the North Carolina House and Senate aim to tighten restrictions on abortion. A key point in House Bill 465 would extend waiting periods between when women consult with their doctors and when they can obtain an abortion. The waiting period under current state law is 24 hours -- the bill would triple that to 72 hours. "That bill is one of the most extreme waiting periods in the U.S.," said Amanda Allen, state legislative counsel for the Center for Rep

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in the consolidated cases of Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama and Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama, which challenged Alabama’s redistricting as racial gerrymandering. The majority opinion, written by Justice Breyer, and joined by Justices Kennedy, Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Kagan, found that a challenge to Alabama’s redistricting plan based on a district-by-district analysis of racial gerrymandering was valid. The case was

NATIONAL -- There is no doubt that there are some IVN readers who support some form of proportional representation, often seen as a voting scheme that maximizes representation and makes every vote count. But the real question is, what would be the avenue to implement proportional representation nationwide? What are the roadblocks and potential legal challenges? To answer these questions, we have to examine the history of how we got to our current two-party voting system. History of Current V