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How the heck did it come so far, so fast? That's certainly what comedian and blogger Beppe Grillo must be saying, just 7 years after starting Italy's fastest growing political party, the  Five Star Movement. The groups co-founder, Gianroberto Casaleggio, passed away in 2016. What began as an idea in 2008 at Grillo's kitchen table, and took form in 2009, has since been labeled anti-establishment, anti-globalist, environmentalist, and populist. The movement's principles are based on direct dem

Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) is a process where “state officials automatically register eligible citizens using reliable information from other government lists. All would be given the chance to “opt out” or decline registration.” This policy proposal seeks to resolve the issue of having a barrier at the polls. According to the Pew Center on the States: “One in four eligible citizens is not registered to vote and one in eight voter registrations in the United States is invalid or signif

Legislation that would add Oregon to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is having a little trouble in the state Senate. Willamette Week reports that the Democratic Majority Leader and the Democratic Senate President refuse to hold an up-or-down vote on the current bill. But it's the reason behind it that is interesting. ALSO READ: National Popular Vote Compact Makes Huge Inroads in Another State First, a little background. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an

Like a lot of Missouri voters, I’m beyond angry at our recent divisive presidential election and scandal-plagued state legislature. It’s time to vent that anger at the real culprit: an election system rigged against the voters. If you’re like me, you have deeply held political principles, but right now you’d prefer if news about politics just went away. For the media and political parties, politics is just about putting people in boxes and keeping them there. As an African-American woman who

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44Cn1zB7610 Nevada became the fifth state in the nation -- joining Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington -- to legalize the use and sale of recreational marijuana Saturday. Marijuana advocates and consumers celebrated with fireworks and other festivities -- fitting for the July 4 weekend. It is important to clarify that eight states plus the District of Columbia now have laws on the books that legalize the recreational use of marijuana. However, due to bureau

It appears that the momentum toward non-affiliated voter registration in Oregon is not letting up. In fact, it appears to be accelerating. Latest statistics from the Oregon secretary of state’s office show nearly a 60% growth from December 2010 to May 2017. What’s interesting is the growth of independents from 2015 to 2017, from 527,302 to 739,405 (over 200,000 new registrations). These are amazing numbers and indicate that more and more people prefer true independence rather than giving their

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5czwUzzLlM SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, May 29, 2017 -- The Illinois House unanimously passed Senate Bill 1933 to create automatic voter registration (AVR) on Monday, to applause from backers in the Just Democracy Illinois coalition of civic and voting rights groups. “We are thrilled that automatic voter registration passed the House today with broad, bipartisan support,” said Andy Kang, Legal Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, and a Co-Coordinato

Ballot Access News reported Wednesday that the Oregon State House passed a bill that would add Oregon to the National Popular Vote Compact (NPVC). The plan is simple: Each state that joins the NPVC commits to giving all of their Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Here are some facts you need to know: * The NPVC is law in 10 states, plus the District of Columbia: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont,

If my Google News Alerts are a valid indicator, public interest in election process reform has seen a huge increase since the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. We're witnessing this directly here in Oregon as we work to bring Score Runoff Voting (SRV) to public elections for the first time. The purpose of Score Runoff is to finally break the tradeoffs inherent in prior proposals for single-winner elections and enable accurate representative elections that let voters honestly express their opinion

Last week, Congress avoided a government shutdown by agreeing to a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded for another week. Then over the weekend, US lawmakers agreed to a deal that will extend funding through September while Congress and the White House continue to negotiate longer-term fiscal policy priorities. The US House passed the budget deal Wednesday. But amidst Washington's annual kabuki theater dance around fiscal policy and possible government shutdowns, a litt