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Many of the voters who are becoming the most disenchanted with parties are those who live in “one-party states,” and have experienced closed partisan primaries and/or politically gerrymandered districts. They know how it feels for their vote not to count, having experienced the injustice of being shut out from primary elections or of belonging to a substantial group of politically like-minded people whose votes have been diluted such that they have no representation in Congress. Most average A

I am Boltman. I’ve supported the Chargers franchise for more than 22 years. During that time, I’ve given 100% of my commitment, passion, and dedication to the blue, white, and gold whether the Chargers are at home or away. I’m not upset because the Chargers suck. I’m troubled because the Chargers belong in San Diego. Watching the Chargers lose in Los Angeles has tested my resolve. On one hand, I want to cheer for them. On the other, I want them to get crushed to get back at Dean Spanos for w

Should lawmakers be allowed to draw electoral districts to protect their party from competition? Can the courts rule legislative and congressional maps unconstitutional on the basis of partisan and political discrimination? Those are among the questions the Supreme Court is considering in the case Gill v. Whitford. To give you a brief overview, Gill v. Whitford is a partisan gerrymandering case out of Wisconsin in which a group of Democratic voters are challenging legislative districts drawn b

Where do we even begin after Las Vegas? The shooting was so calculatingly evil, so tragic for the victims, and so sad for our nation. And yet we have been here before: after Sandy Hook, after the Orlando night club shooting, after Louisiana GOP Rep. Steve Scalise was shot in the capital this summer. Our reaction is always shock and sorrow – followed almost immediately by the same predictable partisan debate on guns. I fervently believe that electing more centrist independents can help break thr

On Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court heard arguments for Gill v. Whitford, a constitutional challenge to Wisconsin’s state legislative districts. The interest in the case was evident by the line for tickets, which started the night before and had wrapped around the block by dawn. I camped out with the crowd of concerned citizens who came from across the country, waiting to see what the Court would do about the problem of partisan gerrymandering. FairVote submitted an amicus brief in this case

Update October 3, 2017: The full transcript has been released for the oral argument in Gill v. Whitford. Check out the transcript below. The Supreme Court heard oral argument Tuesday in Gill v. Whitford, a case out of Wisconsin that challenges the state's gerrymandered legislative districts. Gill v. Whitford is significant because it is the first case that a federal court ruled electoral maps unconstitutional not on the basis of race or class discrimination, but political discrimination. The d

Lost is all the discussion of the Mission Valley Stadium site is the question of what to do with the stadium? The Soccer City plan includes a new 36,000 seat soccer stadium. SDSU is announcing plans for a slightly larger stadium about the same size. Both plans will require that the current stadium be demolished AGED AND OUTDATED? The impression that the stadium is old and obsolete at 50 years of age, and on the surface seems to be true. There is also a Charger’s hangover in which many forme

On September 19, the state of Wisconsin filed its reply brief in Gill v. Whitford, 16-1161, the case over whether extreme partisan gerrymandering violates the U.S. Constitution. The hearing will be October 3, 2017. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link. Editor's note: This update originally published on Ballot Access News and has been republished with permission from the author. Photo Credit: Steven Frame / shutterstock.com

Everybody hates gerrymandering. That’s the takeaway from a new poll that finds dramatic majorities of Americans in favor of limiting the ability of politicians and partisans to draw their own districts. The survey – a bipartisan poll conducted by Democratic researcher Celinda Lake and Republican analyst Ashlee Rich Stephenson – found that 71 percent of Americans would like the Supreme Court to define a standard that ends extreme partisan gerrymandering. This cuts across party lines: 80 percent

Crazy times in America these days.  The wrathful hurricanes pounding the South and the East Coast and the wildfires devouring the Northwest echo our storm-tossed politics. Everything is turned upside down, everything is fevered, everything is being washed away. And yet (and this is the craziest thing of all) nothing seems to change. Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan once observed, you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. True that. If you’re an independent, you can lick your fi