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In a country with almost 320 million citizens, the secret ballot in elections almost ensures one simple fact--that voting fraud will exist, either from voters or the structure itself. The secret ballot isn't a truly time honored institution in America -- only universally applied for a little over 100 years. In fact, Grover Cleveland was the first U.S. president elected exclusively by the secret ballot. Could it be that the secret ballot itself is what truly needs a dose of transparency to ensu

The end of a year is an important time for reflection. In order for a person or organization to grow they need to continually ask themselves: What has gone well for me so far? What can I improve on? As the new year approaches we here at The Centrist Project wanted to take a look back at our experience thus far so we can take the lessons learned with us into 2016 and beyond. Here are a couple of the big ones: 1. American politics needs a disruptive innovation The spirit of innovation has been

One of Obama’s most prominent campaign pledges included a promise to close Guantanamo Bay. The prison camp has housed hundreds of prisoners in the war on terror since 2002, acting as a location to both detain and interrogate what the United States considers “extraordinarily dangerous people.” Since it first opened though, the prison has come under increasing scrutiny. In addition to charges of torture, Amnesty International has called the facility the Gulag of our time, and the facility has dra

When it comes to strengthening election laws to eliminate voter fraud, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) has captured headlines for years. He has helped several states, including Arizona, develop their own voting laws--and recently pushed the Kansas legislature to give him prosecutorial powers over election fraud cases.While critics claim this is a duplication of powers, with local prosecutors having the same duties and responsibilities, Kobach claimed at the signing ceremony in June th

IVN has been following the work of Dr. Beth Clarkson, a Wichita State University engineer and statistician who claims that the 2014 Kansas senatorial race (among others) had suspicious trends that indicate tampering of the electronic voting machines. Judge Douglas Roth allowed the case to continue into discovery on October 19, setting a trial date for March 22. This is a major victory for Clarkson and her supporters, as state and county officials have stone-walled any efforts to check the pape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-_n0SYYnBA On October 10, the Independent Voter Project hosted a panel discussion at the first annual Politicon event in Los Angeles, California. The panel, “Outside the Partisan Narrative: From Journalism to Elections,” concentrated on what institutional reforms are necessary to alleviate systemic partisanship and voter disillusionment within the status quo. It is not a new revelation that voters are disillusioned and disengaged from the political process. Vot

The latest headlines on nonpartisan voting rights from across the nation. Enjoy. Young, Independent Voters Denied Full Access to Elections in Pa. Source: John Finnerty, The Herald My Take: From a state calling out more and more for an open primary, a bit of in-depth reporting about the effect on young voters who are more than likely to register as independents. Insight Kansas: More Voters, Better Representation Source: Burdett Loomis, Hays Post Loomis, a political science professor at th

“We need an insurgency of the rational: a generation of Americans who are fed up with the current political system, who believe we can do better, and most important, who are ready to do something about it.”. — Charles Wheelan - Founder of The Centrist Project and author of “The Centrist Manifesto” Millions of people intuitively understand the four simple words Mr. Wheelan opened with in The Centrist Manifesto, a book he wrote in 2013 calling for fundamental change to end the U.S.’s dysfunctiona

The VW case of tampering with the computing in their automobiles for emission tests once again highlights just how easy it is for a computer to "do" whatever it's programmed to do -- even if for nefarious reasons. With a simple switch inserted into the program, the output is factual when circumstances are one way and are tainted when it's another way. https://twitter.com/Breakingviews/status/646299939073560577/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw This is the fundamental claim that Dr. Beth Clarkson is

KANSAS -- If one single axiom of the American justice system is correct, the wheels of justice turn very, very slowly. Dr. Beth Clarkson, the statistician and engineer at Wichita State University who is challenging the state in court for a full audit of the votes in the 2014 election, updated her newsletter on August 23, yet more interesting news continues to develop as Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach finally defends his stance. At issue is the fact that there are numerous circumstantial