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Elections in the US make it all, but impossible for third party and independent candidates to compete in most elections. Still, for several decades there have been established third parties at the national level, including the Libertarian, Green, and Reform Parties.

There is a bill in the US House that, if passed, would ensure millions of independent voters have a more meaningful say in who represents them by requiring open primaries for federal elections. Outside of VN, however, few outlets have talked about it.

Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME-2), one of the most independent voices in Congress, will face a new challenger in 2026: former Maine Governor Paul LePage. Once again conducted under Maine’s ranked choice voting (RCV) system, the race is expected to draw national attention in one of the country’s most competitive congressional districts.

Independence means different things to different people. For us, it means more than rejecting party lines; it means thinking for yourself, being accountable to principles and constituents, and resisting the pressures of partisan orthodoxy.

In 47 US states, the secretary of state is a recognized statewide office, and in most of those states, voters get to decide who holds it. But in three 3 states — Maine, Tennessee, and New Hampshire — the legislature holds that power exclusively.

US Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska), who was elected under Alaska’s ranked choice voting (RCV) system, and US Rep. Abraham Hamadeh (R-Arizona) are co-leading an effort to prohibit the use of RCV in federal elections. 

In an age when democracy feels more like a battleground than a meeting of minds, something remarkable happened in my small New England town, Manchester-by-the-Sea.

If the American economy is heavily regulated and interfered with by the government, it risks stagnating like that of Europe.

US Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrapped up their Fighting Oligarchy Tour on April 16, after a five-day, seven-stop sweep through the West that drew nearly 150,000 people—capping it off with an unexpected appearance by Sanders at the Coachella music festival.

It’s a bipartisan effort. Independent voters are tired of division and Congress’s inability to achieve results. We rarely see a bipartisan effort in Congress today because, in many respects, we are not allowed to witness it.