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Earlier this month, we reported on the uncertain fate of a ballot access reform bill in North Carolina. That bill has now passed, liberalizing ballot access laws in North Carolina, but also carrying with it controversial elements related to judicial elections. The bill began as a bipartisan effort to ease North Carolina's excessively harsh ballot access laws. However, it was amended to make other changes to election law, most notably the elimination of judicial primary elections in 2018. This d

AUGUSTA -- Nearly 100 Maine citizens ages 20-81 from across the state descended on Augusta this morning to testify before their elected lawmakers in support of LD 1646. The bill, introduced by Rep. Kent Ackley, would bring Maine’s voter-approved Ranked Choice Voting law into constitutional compliance and implement it for the 2018 primary and federal elections. Only one Maine citizen testified against LD 1646. “Ranked choice voting has been Maine law for nearly a year now; a result of the most

As already noted on October 5, the North Carolina legislature passed the ballot access bill, SB 656 -- titled the "Electoral Freedom Act." There is a danger that Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, will veto it. There is a provision in the bill, unrelated to ballot access, that cancels the 2018 primaries for state judicial elections, and Democrats are opposed to this. Ballot access reform bills have been proposed in North Carolina for 31 years, and this is the first time one has passed the legisl

Dr. Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, and a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, recently had some sobering words for the two major political parties in the United States. On a Washington Post podcast, Dean said, "The most reliable demographic of our voters are the young people across the board, across racial and ethnic lines," but added that this is a major problem for the DNC, because: "These people are not Democrats." Dean went on to explain: "Th

Voting in America is not easy. You first have to register. You have to find your polling place. In most states, you have to take time before, during, or after work to get to your polling place. You have to wait in line, sometimes for hours. In some states, you even have to prove you are who you say you are. And then, after all that, in the vote for president at least, if you don’t happen to vote for the candidate who happens to win in your state, your vote is worth nothing. It counts for nothi

Despite President Trump's condemnation of the KKK and white supremacist groups, a group of protestors chanted “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!” before pulling a statue to the ground. Some demonstrators then kicked or punched the fallen statue. The Confederate monument stood outside of a court house in Durham, North Carolina. According to a report in USA Today, there are more than 700 Confederate monuments installed in public areas across 31 states. They're in public parks, courthouses, and c

Update: President Trump participated in a VA telehealth event for veterans to cut down on the wait time and meet with VA doctors faster. Whatch the video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1p7ipzB57w In 2014, the country was shocked to hear about secret waiting lists and veterans dying while waiting for medical care that they had long ago earned. But three years later, the situation doesn't seem to be any better. Substandard care, misinformation, long wait times and patient deaths are st

After each presidential election in which the popular vote winner and the Electoral College winner differ, the country revisits the question, “Why do we still have the Electoral College?” Opponents of the Electoral College argue that basing the winner on the college leads candidates to focus only on swing states, which leaves out most of the country. For example, 94% of the 2016 presidential campaign events (375 of the 399) took place in only twelve states. Two-thirds (273 of 399) of the gener

DC politics has gone mad. Americans are now treated to a 24/7 freak show of government dysfunction, charges and countercharges, midnight tweets, and a myriad of other forms of dystopian political theatre. Politics has become toxic. The professional pundits and their assembled panelists profess their disgust at the toxicity — and then gleefully throw another log on the fire. Is there any way for the American people to intervene? Across the country, in inner cities, suburbs, and in rural area

The "travel ban" is a clickbait phrase that's become a popular subject for the 24-hour news cycle. SCOTUS's decision to mostly reinstate President Trump's ban is certainly getting most of the attention, but there's another travel ban that should be making headlines -- but has largely gone unnoticed. California has banned state-funded and state-sponsored travel to EIGHT states that it says has laws discriminating against LGBTQ groups. The eight states are: Texas, Kentucky, Alabama, North Caroli