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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 There’s much to like in this replacement to our fractious, problematic, and outdated plurality voting method.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

1. 2016 Wasn't The First Time Donald Trump Ran for President In 2012, Donald Trump made a brief appearance in the Republican primary, dipping his toe into the water, so to speak, and getting an idea for what it would be like to run. He formed an exploratory committee and even polled in second place behind Mitt Romney very early on in 2011 before bowing out, probably because he knew better than to try to run against Barack Obama's re-election campaign. 2. 2012 Wasn't The First Time He Ran for

How long does it take to travel through a legislative district in Michigan? Well, if you are in Grand Rapids, you can jog through three on a single street: https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1042504349920972800 One street. About 8 houses. 3 districts. "These people's kids go on the same school bus. When they have a crack on their sidewalk, they have to call three different people to try to talk about it, or get awareness built," said Katie Fahey, founder and executive director of Voters N

What are the main take-aways from the 2018 primary season from an election reform perspective? In summary, some good news, some problems, and some emerging solutions. The good news is that competition and participation both increased significantly in 2018, as more people ran, more people voted, and more primaries actually offered choice to voters. The number of candidates seeking office jumped by 30% compared with 2016, and the percent of primaries that were contested also rose significantly, p

A federal district court judge has decided that Georgia will not switch to paper ballots this year and will instead keep its electronic voting system. Judge Amy Totenberg took state election officials to task for a “head-in-the-sand” approach to election security, but said that it is too late in the game to switch from the vulnerable touch-screen machines to paper ballots before voters head to the polls on November 6. Early voting begins in less than a month. A group of citizens who are suing G

We let computers to determine our Facebook feeds and drive our cars. Why not let technology replace the political and personal interests of people when it comes to drawing district lines?In a recent column for Bridge Magazine, Eric Lupher, president of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, considers whether a computer algorithm could indeed solve the problem of human influences on mapmaking.Michigan, which boasts some of the most egregiously gerrymandered districts in the country, is one of

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

Political reformers across America are paying close attention to key elections on November 6. But their focus is not on candidates or political parties. It’s about how Americans vote on ballot measures to unrig the system. Here are some highlights: Voters Not Politicians (Michigan) In Michigan, an anti-gerrymandering measure is on the ballot after Voters Not Politicians gathered more than 425,000 petition signatures with only volunteers within just 110 days. The measure creates an independen