Search query: arizona

Originally published on The Fulcrum. Enactment of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 remains a celebrated landmark in American history. It's time to celebrate the law's potential anew by making some big changes in how state legislatures are elected. My home state of Virginia illustrates the merits of doing so. First, a quick refresher course: The law enacted 55 years ago put an end to literacy tests, poll taxes and a host of other discriminatory practices that had kept minority voters from gaining

‘Anger.’ ‘Frustration.’ ‘Controversy.’ ‘Chaos.’ Those were among the words used to describe Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary as voters were given a choice: Risk their health to vote in-person or have no voice in the 2020 primaries. Approximately 2,500 National Guardsmen were called in to man the polls Tuesday as voters lined up, most wearing face masks as they tried their best to practice social distancing while they waited to cast a ballot. https://twitter.com/OmarJimenez/status/12475002029210787

Originally published on The Fulcrum. Due to the coronavirus, many states that have held their presidential primaries on schedule this year experienced a decrease in turnout, chaos and confusion. As we know, the integrity and inclusiveness of our elections depends on a well-run election system — which is exactly why Maricopa County saw an increase in turnout when Arizonans cast their ballots three weeks ago. On every Election Day, Americans eagerly tune into the news the moment the polls close,

I recently had the pleasure of watching Slay the Dragon, Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance’s stunning documentary on the fight against partisan gerrymandering in Michigan and Wisconsin. It played before a full house at Betaworks Studios in lower Manhattan. The film tracked parallel efforts in the Courts and on the ground. In Wisconsin a group of Democratic Party activists put together a high-powered legal team to sue in federal court, arguing that in 2011 the Wisconsin legislature enacted a redi

Illinois should host the first presidential primaries if the goal is to pick a state that most closely matches the demographics of the country. And Vermont, the home state of Democratic front-runner Bernie Sanders, should have minimal influence over the process because its makeup is least similar to the entire United States — meaning the results from that state would be hardly at all predictive of the nation's views. Those are among the conclusions out Thursday from the personal financial ser

All the momentum in the 2020 Democratic presidential race appears to be behind US Senator Bernie Sanders after another victory in Nevada over the weekend. Now, headed into the most consequential Super Tuesday in modern history, Sanders may be on track to secure the Democratic nomination early. Super Tuesday, however, will also highlight the deep systemic problems in our electoral process -- problems that leave millions of voters disenfranchised and voiceless. Here is what you need to know just

Republicans in charge of the Arizona Legislature are hoping to restrict the powers of the state's independent redistricting commission before the new maps are drawn next year. At issue is just how close to identical in population the state's legislative districts should be. A variation of as much as 10 percent had been ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court, and at the start of this decade the independent panel used that benchmark— which means about 20,000 people in Arizona — in order to cr

The beginning of the 2020 presidential election was an unmitigated disaster. Results that should have been reported the night-of in Iowa instead took days as a result of technical issues with an app and inconsistent numbers being reported. Politicos were baffled while accusations of a rigged process arose after the candidate with the most votes didn’t leave with the most delegates. At the center of the controversy was independent US Senator Bernie Sanders, and suddenly the question became whet

2019 Anti-Corruption Award Honorees Katie Fahey Katie Fahey is a Michigan-based activist and an independent. As the Founder and Executive Director of the grassroots, nonpartisan campaign Voters Not Politicians, Fahey ignited a political movement in 2016 that took on gerrymandering in Michigan by amending the State Constitution via an initiative with 61 percent of the vote in 2018. Fahey graduated from Aquinas College in 2011 with degrees in Sustainable Business and Community Leadership. She

Over one hundred guests attended the event established 19 years ago to shine a spotlight on leaders in civic and political life who challenge the status quo and fight for systemic change.