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SACRAMENTO, CALIF. -- California legislators introduced a bill last March that will automatically register citizens to vote when they obtain or renew their driver's license. The new law follows in Oregon's footsteps with the hopes to increase California's record-low voter turnout of 42.2 percent. California's new Motor Voter Act (AB 1461), introduced by Secretary of State Alex Padilla and jointly authored by Assemblymembers Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), Luis Alejo (D-Salinas), and Kevin McCart

In response to How State, Federal Courts Are Working to End Partisan Gerrymandering, published July 13, I received several emails and Facebook messages questioning the statistic that the United States is now over 80 percent urbanized by population. While this seems like a huge number, it came from the 2010 Census, which found that: The urban areas of the United States for the 2010 Census contain 249,253,271 people, representing 80.7% of the population, and rural areas contain 59,492,276 people

This week a handful of presidential hopefuls touted the millions in campaign donations they racked up during the second quarter of 2015. Official FEC disclosures will not be available until later this month; however, some candidates (Clinton, Sanders, and Carson) are choosing to boast about their early campaign fundraising. Yet, most presidential contenders decided to remain quiet on their first quarter figures, opting instead to let the media do it for them when FEC disclosures are released lat

To be honest, I'm a bit surprised at today's Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States. Not in the outcome -- in my mind that was all but a foregone conclusion. But instead, in the way it played out. I was banking on one of two things: a convoluted split-majority opinion that would force the issues to be fought out in the lower courts for more years to come while upholding current pro-rulings, or a unanimous decision in favor. Obviously, the tactic of the

Since the movement launched in 2006, National Popular Vote has made significant progress to reform the way Americans elect their president. The group's plan involves a state-by-state approach. States that join the National Popular Voter Interstate Compact (NPVIC) agree that rather than having their electors cast their ballots for president according to whichever candidate won the most votes in their respective states, the electors will instead vote for the candidate who won the most votes natio

June 15, 2015 marks exactly 800 years since the sealing of the Magna Carta by King John, in an English meadow called Runnymede. The Magna Carta is widely regarded as the document that marked the beginning of the Anglo tradition of constitutional liberty, which would eventually lead to the writing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The writers of the U.S. Constitution wished to preserve the natural rights they already held, including those truly fundamental right

Californians are concerned about the state's abysmal voter turnout and seem ready to try some different solutions to increase participation. The state experienced historically low turnout in California's June primary and the November general election in 2014, and Californians seem to have noticed. The Public Policy Institute of California released survey results Wednesday that show eight of 10 Californians say turnout is either a big problem (59 percent) or somewhat of a problem (25 percent). O

"Now we'll be stuck with Goldwater," quips  Roger Sterling of AMC's Mad Men, referring to recent news of Republican candidate Nelson Rockefeller's marriage to a divorcé 18 years his junior. Roger's statement is a reference to a popular narrative that is used to describe the demise of the former New York governor. What is incomplete about this perception, however, is the impact that race relations had on Rockefeller's viability in the increasingly volatile South. At a point when both the Mad Men

In February 2015, Edwin Gomes became the first candidate running solely on the Working Families Party (WFP) line to win a seat in a state legislature. Gomes beat out four other candidates in a special election to represent Connecticut’s 23rd senate district. On May 5, 2015, the WFP won another special election – this one to fill a vacant seat in New York’s legislature. Diana Richardson now represents the General Assembly's 43rd district, covering Crown Heights and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Th

Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul announced on his Facebook page and Twitter account that he has taken the Senate floor to begin his filibuster of renewing the PATRIOT Act, specifically provisions in Section 215 that are set to expire at the end of the month. Check out the live footage of Paul's filibuster here. https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/601079082676318208 1:15 pm ET - Rand Paul takes the floor by saying, "There comes a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow pow