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LANSING, MICH. - Michigan’s congressional districts rank among the most gerrymandered in the country. In fact, a new project providing historical data on gerrymandering identifies Michigan’s congressional districts as “more skewed than 95 percent of the enacted plans ... analyzed nationwide.” The state is divided nearly evenly between voters who prefer Democrats and those who prefer Republicans, yet eight of its 14 districts are solidly Republican - and only two are outside FairVote’s highest c

I. Independent Voters Are Disgusted With The Relentless Negativity of Partisan Gutter Politics Independent voters make up over 40 percent of registered voters in the United States today, while fewer than 30 percent are either registered Republicans or Democrats. Voters are leaving the parties in droves because they are disgusted by the fever pitch level of animus in partisan politics, the unrelenting negativity, the unscrupulous smearing, the cynical gutter politics into which American faction

The success of Maine as the first state to use ranked choice voting statewide has brought newfound national attention to ranked choice voting. There’s much to like in this replacement to our fractious, problematic, and outdated plurality voting method. Voters can vote for their top choice without fear of splitting the vote. More candidates and parties can compete without the label of “spoiler.” Campaigns become more civil and less prone to negative attacks. The winner is the consensus, majority

I. The State of Self-Driving Car Technology and The Possibilities In the 1990 film, Total Recall (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone), the protagonist played by the now former governor of California hails a self-driving car with a humanoid, robotic attendant sitting where a human driver would. What makes the surreal scene eerily prophetic is how Schwarzenegger asks the AI cab driver questions like one might ask Alexa, Siri, or Google's voice assistant, and the "Johnny Cab" sasses

A central element of this remarkable year in election reform has been the pivot of the anti-gerrymandering fight from the courts to the ballot boxes. As has been widely reported, five states vote this year on state constitutional amendments to block partisan gerrymandering and fundamentally change how redistricting is done, far more than in any other year. Ohio approved its amendment in May with 75% support; four others -- Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, and Utah -- will vote in November. Nearly

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has announced he is appointing Jon Kyl to succeed John McCain. Kyl, once one of the most powerful Republicans in the U.S. Senate, returns to Congress after retiring in 2013 to become the second-highest-ranking Republican senator. He is considered a pro-growth conservative. Kyl has agreed to serve at least through the end of the year, if he should step down after the end of the session, the Republican governor would be required to appoint another replacement. The su

In the lead up to the 2018 midterms, female candidates running as independents and third parties are shockingly under-represented by organizations who endorse and track women – even those groups who claim to be nonpartisan. One example is The Center for American Women and Politics that was established in July 1971 at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics. For decades, CAWP has claimed to be “a nonpartisan voice that is central to creating awareness and understanding of women’s pol

As a staunch independent voter, I write in response to two op-ed pieces in the Aug. 19 edition of the Arizona Daily Star. Both pieces were thoughtful and contained interesting perspectives on our political system. Yet, each contained glaring misconceptions that should be addressed. In the first piece — “Parties should reassert control over primaries” — columnist Jonathan Hoffman laments what he sees as a lack of party control over primaries. To the contrary, except in those few instances where

Arizona independents are having a difficult time voting in in their state. Some -- like in Pinal County -- were sent the wrong ballot just weeks before the election, while thousands -- like in Maricopa County -- did not initially receive the early voting ballots they requested earlier this month. There are just two weeks before the Arizona primary elections, and some independent voters in Pinal County, and other places, have been sent the wrong ballot. The Pinal County Recorder's Office reports

In my latest interview, I talk with independent campaign manager and digital marketing expert Jenn Gray about a new voter suppression investigation she and her group, Arizona Independents United, are conducting in Maricopa County, Arizona. Jenn believes there are multiple layers of inept -- possibly corrupt -- election administration practices in the county that have led to vast numbers of valid ballot petition signatures being discarded, voters being removed from the active voter rolls, and ev