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More than any other vice presidential contender in a generation, Kamala Harris’ biography is singularly Californian. Born and bussed to school in Berkeley, tested by San Francisco’s cut-throat municipal politics and propelled onto the national stage as the state’s top law enforcement officer and then its first female senator of color, Harris’ approach to politics and policymaking were honed here. Although most Americans are now focusing on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s ticket p

Since the federal weekly $600 boost expired last month, unemployed Californians have been living on impossibly low budgets — and expect to do so in the coming months even if President Trump’s weekend executive order helps break a partisan impasse in Congress. That’s because even if the federal unemployment stimulus gets extended, the state Employment Development Department estimates it could take the agency’s antiquated system as much as 20 weeks to deliver the payments. Overnight, the maximum

There is a good deal of mention of the Constitution on social media these days; frequently, in short, declarative sentences that express with certainty what the document means. Oftentimes these comments are directed at the Supreme Court, accusing a justice or justices of willfully violating the obligation to impartially interpret and administer the law. Although both liberals and conservatives have engaged in this sport, conservatives do it a lot more, in part because of a legal theory called “T

First, on behalf of the NANR Board, I want to thank our members for making NANR's first Spotlight program on June 8 a big success, highlighting the important work our members are doing to ensure safe and secure elections in times of crises. We’ve elevated the reform conversation for legislators, journalists, and reform practitioners across the country, who now have a better understanding of what we are all about, and the reform solutions we bring to the table to ensure a better representative d

Most Americans believe the US is headed in the wrong direction, trust in the federal government is at dismal levels, and people are consumed by frustration, grief, and/or rage in uncertain and tumultuous times. As former Gehl Foods CEO and prominent political reform activist Katherine Gehl said recently, “Things are not alright with our country.” LISTEN NOW: How We End Division, Dysfunction, and Inaction in a Democracy in Crisis Yet, the public has long felt the US was headed in the wrong d

Editor's Note: This article originally published in The Fulcrum and has been republished with permission from the publisher. ‍ A long, and long-shot, quest to get more candidates onto the presidential debate stage has run aground in a federal appeals court. The Libertarian and Green parties, and the nonprofit advocacy group Level the Playing Field, have been challenging the debate qualifications for six years, arguing they unfairly if not unconstitutionally favored the nominees of the two ma

‍ Imagine an industry where consumer trust has dropped to marginal levels, but nothing in that industry changed. It’s hard to do, right? Even now in the midst of a pandemic and social turmoil we see businesses commit to doing better to adapt to consumer demands. After all, if people don't like their choices they could take their business elsewhere, right? Competition is largely viewed as healthy and beneficial to the growth of any market. It gives consumers options and creates the right

The Georgia elections Tuesday were characterized as “catastrophe.” A new $104 million voting system broke down, many voters couldn’t vote as a result of a ballot shortage, and those who could ended up waiting hours in line to exercise their right to vote. ‍ Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has called for an investigation, but leading advocates for systemic reform say what happened underscores the need for change, including accessible vote-by-mail ballots. “How many democracy deba

In the midst of social turmoil and civil unrest, on top of an ongoing pandemic, the news didn’t spare much time to talk about 9 primary elections held Tuesday -- primaries that, according to vote at home advocates, prove absentee ballots work. Four states -- Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island -- postponed their primary elections to June 2 to allow voters an extended opportunity to request absentee ballots, while DC, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, and South Dakota largely increased th

The one silver lining pro-voter reformers see in the midst of these unprecedented and troubling times is that voters are now even more aware of the weaknesses in the US political and electoral process, and they want change. Most states with in-person voting scheduled in April were forced to postpone their primaries or elections until the early summer. Meanwhile, the one state that didn’t cancel its in-person voting, Wisconsin, has now reported at least 19 new coronavirus cases as a result. W