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Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2013 that struck down pre-clearance requirements from the Voting Rights Act, Republican-controlled state legislatures jumped at the opportunity to impose restrictions on who could register and vote. Laws implemented in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Florida are said to have had major impacts on the outcome of the presidential election in those states. Republicans in Arizona, Texas, Kansas, as well as others continue to explore legislation clearly a

North Carolina voters not affiliated with the Republican or Democratic Parties cannot serve on the state's Board of Elections. That's right, state law says only registered Republicans and Democrats can. This means tough luck for independents or third party voters. Well, one N.C. attorney hopes to change this. Michael Crowell, a reportedly well-known election law attorney in North Carolina, recently filed a lawsuit against the state and its Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement. Crowell's c

Last month, the Brennan Center released a scathing report on gerrymandering in America. Using multiple metrics, they uncovered several damning findings: * A net structural advantage towards Republicans of 16 to 17 seats across states with six or more congressional representatives (85% of House seats). * Most of the bias against Democrats comes from seven large states with roughly even partisanship where Republicans had unified control during redistricting. * Some bias towards Democrats in De

Progressive politicians and pundits are collectively celebrating the Supreme Court's ruling that North Carolina illegally used racial gerrymandering to draw its congressional districts. But even author and journalist Greg Palast says those celebrating need to pump the brakes a little. He first prefaced his statement. "It was a good decision one way in that it defeated the idea of dumping every black person into a single congressional district," said Palast. The bad news, Palast believes, is th

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,

IVN's A Civil Assessment host T.J. O’Hara interviews David Garrow on his new book, Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, released this month. David discusses Obama before his political career took off, and the choices he made that led to the ex-president we see today. Regarding the book, host T.J. O'Hara says, “It was almost like you couldn’t recognize the early Barack Obama when you compared and contrasted him to the presidential Barack Obama.” David is a professor of Law & History and Dis

There has been a lot buzz in Washington lately over the new leaks coming out of the Trump administration, as well as the ongoing investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. However, a recent story that has gone largely unreported could potentially have rather large implications concerning the election results this past November, more so than Russian interferences. Earlier this month, Ari Berman wrote an article for The Nation in which he reported on a new study

Sam Wang has used a combination of computer simulations and simple math tests to help reveal the partisan intent behind the post-2010 redistricting. All this work gave the neuroscientist a new obsession with political reform, electoral fairness, and ending the gerrymander once and for all. What started has a hobby evolved into award-winning tests to uncover partisan gerrymandering, influential law review work, and now the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. His latest op-ed in the Los Angeles Time

Recording Votes: Fixing the Electoral College Our Electoral College (EC) is out of date. Powerful coalitions exist to push for its effective abolishment and a switch to a popular vote, but the support for this movement is not as strong as proponents had hoped. Constitutionally speaking, it will be easier to update the EC and improve it. In this section, I discuss three proposed methods for use of the EC: Winner-Take-All, District Plan, and Proportional Plan. Winner-Take-All method for the Elec

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