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The Let Us Vote campaign released two citizen spotlight videos that focus not only on the need for primary election systems that treat independent voters equally, but why it is important in a state like South Dakota.

Ballotpedia released a report on the increased efforts in various states across the US to ban ranked choice voting, a popular nonpartisan reform that continues to gain momentum.

A Harvard CAPS / Harris poll in May found that 71% of Americans want an independent or third-party candidate on the presidential debate stage. Yet, the rules for CNN's June 27 debate were set up to never allow more than two.

Once again, the US finds itself having a familiar discussion. Some people will use the term “democracy” to refer to the US, and then there will inevitably be some who respond with, “We’re not a democracy; we’re a republic.”

A recent poll shows that 55% of South Dakota voters support Amendment H, which if approved in November will implement a nonpartisan, top-two primary in the state similar to systems used in California and Washington.

The late Peter Ackerman, an expert in nonviolent civil resistance and a driving force behind reform efforts like Maine’s “More Voice” initiatives, said that even the best ideas are accepted in stages:

A proposed amendment to the South Dakota Constitution to require a nonpartisan primary system in which all voters and candidates participate on a single ballot has been certified for the November ballot.

The nonpartisan better elections group FairVote has welcomed a new president and CEO at a time when one of its principal reforms, ranked choice voting, is riding a momentous wave across the US. Meredith Sumpter, whose work spans across the private and public sectors, was appointed by the FairVote Board in a unanimous vote. “I am coming in at an exciting time for FairVote as it is planning for the next four years of advancing ranked choice voting,” she said in an interview for IVN. Sumpter mos

One week after the Idahoans for Open Primaries coalition submitted roughly 30,000 more signatures than they needed to get a nonpartisan top-four primary system on the ballot, South Dakota Open Primaries met the required number of signatures in their own state to put a top-two system before voters.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt recently signed into law a bill that bans ranked choice voting (RCV) at all levels of elections within the state. Oklahoma is the seventh state to pass a law that stops voters from exploring the alternative voting method. Regardless of how one feels about RCV, this development should alarm anyone who believes the US needs voting systems that bolster competition, choice, and accountability in the electoral process. Because if they ban one reform, they'll ban others.