Search query: virginia

To have their voices heard and enact change, citizens are urged to use their vote. But how can America's population be truly represented when, in some states, it is nearly impossible for independent or minor party candidates to even appear on voters' ballots? What good is a "fair" vote when viable candidates are undermined by strict ballot access laws that favor the two major parties? Clearly, election reform at state and federal levels is desperately needed. Here are 8 of America's worst ballo

I am concerned with the July 24, 2018 op-ed titled, Virginia Republican: “Ranked Choice Voting Most Superior Voting Method in US.”  While the statements are true, what is missing speaks volumes and illustrates why IRV/RCV may not be in the best interests of independent voters. The op-ed starts with a quote asserting “Ranked Choice Voting, or Instant Run-Off Voting, is by far the most superior method of electing representatives available in the United States.” That is currently true. What it doe

In an op-ed for the online site “The Bull Elephant,” Caroline County (Va.) Republican Party member Steven Brodie Tucker writes, “Ranked Choice Voting, or Instant Run-Off Voting, is by far the most superior method of electing representatives available in the United States…”Tucker wrote ranked choice voting (RCV) would “grow the Republican Party” because more voters would be willing to participate in Party politics “if they felt that their voice actually mattered.” He asked the point of having Con

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – The United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME may serve as a landmark decision. While traditional media outlets and the Democratic establishment are already discrediting the decision, the gnashing of teeth may be relatively short-sighted. The very basis of this decision could be used as precedent to attack the Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010). Both cases were predicated on First Amendment protections. The J

Maxine Waters has lost the plot. She has enjoyed the life of the privileged political class for twenty-eight years and has just been caught out. However illuminating her call for harassment may be, Maxine Waters's chances of ever getting voted out of office even if she were to do worse is scant at best.  Unfortunately, she has matured in her Congressional seat at a time when politicians use rudeness as a moral corrective, and they are off the mark. It’s not a corrective; it’s just rude. And this

On June 19, residents of the District of Columbia can vote in one of four party primaries: Democratic, Libertarian, DC Statehood Green, or Republican. The party with the fewest candidates in the primary is, surprisingly, the DC GOP. Michael Bekesha, running for a council seat in Ward 6, is the only candidate for public office appearing on the party’s primary ballot. The vast majority of the District’s 27,094 registered Republicans living outside Ward 6 will be handed ballots with nothing but bl

From December 2015 when I began as The Young Turks first-ever reporter in the field to two and a half years later, I was fortunate enough to grow an audience by showing the stories of the downtrodden: the struggling, the poor, the poisoned, and frankly, the screwed by an ever-expanding 'United Corporations of America.' In all of my travels across the country reporting for TYT— which included many trips to Flint, and Standing Rock, East Chicago, and beyond — the thought never crossed my mind to

Editor's note: this article was co-authored by Cathy Stewart (introduction) and Caroline Donnola (main article). The Politics for the People (P4P) Book Club brings together independent-minded Americans to read a wide range of books—both fiction and non-fiction—of interest to independents.  With each selection, we have a lively dialogue on the P4P blog culminating in an hour conference call conversation with our author. We just finished reading Greg Orman’s book, A Declaration of Independents:

Did you participate in the National Week of Conversation? The Bridge Alliance, along with 100 sponsoring organizations, community organizers, elected officials, and more, held hundreds of events -- public, online, and private -- in cities across the country from April 20-28 with one goal in mind: Put partisan bickering aside, mend divides, and have meaningful conversations about the biggest issues facing the country. It was a historic event that followed a tumultuous year of political and soci

Americans are angry about the apathetic approach to our online data security by our state and federal governments, as well as tech giants. Repeatedly our data is compromised. The thieves are sometimes hackers, hell-bent on creating false identities or worse, and sometimes the culprits are big businesses making a buck off the personal preferences we offer up for free. I sat down with Morgan Wright, a cyber-security expert,  to get his perspective on what the near future may hold for our data sec