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The shooting death of an unarmed black civilian by a white police officer this month has made Ferguson, Mo., a flashpoint for some of the most divisive issues in America today. Reports show that Michael Brown, 18, died after Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson responded to an emergency call. Accounts about what happened vary, but an autopsy showed that Wilson reportedly discharged his weapon six times. Since then, Ferguson has seen protests, riots, looting, curfews, and even more death. The crisis

There are three methods of proportional representation advocates most commonly present: cumulative voting, limited voting, and ranked-choice voting. Each has been used in the United States, mainly in local and county elections, with decent success. The first two systems only simulate proportional voting while ranked-choice can fully incorporate proportional voting. Cumulative voting is a system used in multi-seat elections where the voter is given a number of ballots equal to the number of sea

Despite consistently low approval ratings of Congress, candidates outside the Democratic and Republican parties have faced an uphill battle gaining enough exposure and credibility to get elected. Since 1877 (the end of Reconstruction), there have been 111 third party or independent candidates elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Since 1949 (the Modern Era), there have only been six. How many independents are sitting in the House today? Zero. That’s right, zero. All 432 current represe

1. Opinion piece in the Montgomery Advertiser advocates adopting a nonpartisan, top-two open primary system in Alabama. "Even more importantly, however, this eliminates the unfair choices that some voters have to make under the current system. Because they can only vote in one party's primary, voters are sometimes forced to choose between voting in a local race contested in one primary or a district or statewide race contested in the other primary." Alabama currently has an open partisan prima

1. The editorial board of Wyoming's Casper Star-Tribune supports a lawsuit challenging the state's heavy restrictions on third party fundraising. "In Wyoming, the time period for fundraising is tied to the date of the party primary. Campaign contributions are not allowed before that time. With that restriction, Wyoming is inherently presuming that all candidates for statewide office follow the same path to the general election ballot." Except, not all candidates for statewide office follow the

1. A new lawsuit filed in federal court challenges restrictive ballot access laws for independent candidates in New Mexico. The lawsuit, filed by a member of the Public Education Committee, says the significantly higher bar in signatures required for independent candidates to appear on the ballot places an unfair burden on independents. Tyson Parker, the committee member, filed the lawsuit after he failed to get the 2,196 signatures needed to gain ballot access. "For independents running for t

Is there a way to end gridlock forever? What about gerrymandering, closed primaries, and high-barrier requirements for outsiders? Even then, what about the complete dependence candidates have on a tiny group of funders that have corrupted our government? When considered all together, we are back to a time of taxation without any meaningful representation. A conclusion that a recent Princeton study resoundingly confirms. A wave of bold upstart independents from across the U.S. believe there is

For the 46.5 million Americans living below the poverty line, 16 million of which are children, life has become a consistent struggle. This struggle does not simply begin and end with monetary concerns, but in fact surrounds both a physical and mental exertion of the individual.Using the national U.S. census and NCCP, researchers found that in 2013, the poverty line rested at $11,490, a number which equates an individual working full time while only making $5.00 – far below the national minimum

California citizens should be cautious when they register to vote. According to the grassroots campaign, Don't Be AIPrl_Fooled, hundreds of thousands of Californians have registered as members of the American Independent Party (AIP) believing that by doing so they are registering "independent" of any party or any single ideology. The truth is, AIP is a party with strong ideological roots dating back to 1967.According to voter registration data, AIP is not only the fastest growing political part

It seems that in every cycle there is debate about which states should hold the first presidential primary elections. Some state always seems to try to jump ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Since 1972, the Iowa Caucuses have been first in the nation and New Hampshire has been the first "primary" since 1920. There, of course, have been states that have attempted to circumvent Iowa and New Hampshire, claiming that they don't truly represent America as they are small states with seemingly narrow