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As the 2014 general election season comes into view, absentee voters in some states will participate in the voting process under new rules. Here’s a rundown of new absentee ballot rules for Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Ohio. Colorado Colorado has shifted to an all-mail voting system. Voters still have the option of voting in person, but the vast majority choose to mail in their vote. In 2012, before the new rules were passed, 74 percent of Coloradans voted by mail. Mail v

During Clinton’s uphill re-election campaign in 1996, the president relied heavily on the aid of pollsters. With the help of strategists such as Doug Schoen, Dick Morris, and Mark Penn, the president identified the concerns and personalities of swing voters (such as whether they preferred the TV shows Friends or Home Improvement) and sampled slogans -- even entire paragraphs of speeches -- in order to discover how to appeal to them. In the midst of this re-branding of the president and the stra

A bipartisan team of U.S. Senators is hoping legislation can eventually gain the support of President Barack Obama and curb some of the powers of the National Security Agency (NSA). Originally sponsored by U.S. Senators Al Franken and Dean Heller as part of their Surveillance Transparency Act, these lawmakers believe the measures can benefit the USA Freedom Act. According to a press release, an amended USA Freedom Act would: "Force the government to release the number of Americans who have had

Editor's note: This article has been updated from the original published draft. The article said Mr. Terrell has first-hand experience with Somalia suspects. This is not the case, and the article has been edited accordingly to reflect the remarks of the candidate. With 42 percent of Americans self-identifying as independent, according to one 2014 Gallup poll, the time has never seemed better for independent candidates to try their luck in a largely two-party game. In May, Kevin Terrell, a cand

It’s no secret that the Keystone issue is a political powder keg. Neither is it a secret that it’s a controversial topic pitting two traditional foes: environmentalists versus big oil. Very murky, however, is what benefit Keystone XL offers the United States.As in so many situations, in order to understand the present, we need to understand the past and Keystone has a bit of a checkered and rapidly evolving past. With blinding speed, progress on the Keystone project began in 2005 when it was pr

It is quite well known by now that there is two-party dominance in the United States because of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) -- or plurality -- electoral system. Third parties can have an unintended “spoiler effect” on contests by stealing votes from the ideologically similar -- but more viable -- candidate. For instance, in Virginia’s 2013 gubernatorial election, Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis siphoned nearly 150,000 votes from Republican Ken Cuccinelli’s total, which was enough to give

What does that term even mean today? Polls vary widely on the percentage of voters who can be defined by a centrist position. A recent poll by Esquire and NBC places this number at 51 percent. A Gallup poll finds that only 34 percent of Americans self-identified as moderates in 2013. Claims from other groups cite this number to be much higher at 60 to 70 percent. Granted, statistics can be manipulated to support a range of arguments. However, even using the lowest estimates of one-third to one

On Tuesday, March 11, Michael Austin published a story examining the argument that the government should not be picking winners and losers. He said that he would vote this the "Most Obnoxious Talking Point in 2014." While it certainly can be considered in contention for the title, perhaps a more obnoxious talking point comes from politicians and political groups who claim to be bullied by anyone who would challenge their position or approach on an issue.It seems the go to strategy in contemporar

With the November general election a few months away and several primary and special elections ahead, the Presidential Commission on Election Administration released a report in January outlining several recommendations to shore up voting lines, increase voter participation and registration, and improve the voter experience. The commission specifically called for states to encourage the use of schools as polling places. Yet, some state election boards and school administrations have pushed back

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