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SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - The most important story not being told by the mainstream press today is the many movements that have emerged to give voters an electoral system that is truly “of, by, and for” the people. It has not, however, been overlooked by some independent filmmakers. Represent San Diego is hosting a free online screening of the PBS film, Democracy Rebellion, on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at 6 PM PDT. The film explores this missing story of voter empowerment by focusing on the solutions

The movement to take control of primaries out of the hands of political parties is growing. However, nonpartisan primary systems are only in place in a few states, and the only nonpartisan system in the South, Louisiana’s primary, is being targeted by partisan insiders. Fortunately, a bill that would have closed congressional primaries in the state was just dropped by its sponsor. Louisiana has what is commonly referred to as a “jungle primary,” which simply means all candidates, regardless of

We all know the system is broken. It’s rigged. It does not work. How do we know? Because our leaders are not producing solutions to the issues we care about. No one is listening, just talking past each other. But what if the system is working the way it was designed to work? What if politicians are operating very rationally and logically based on incentives of the political system in place? That is what many of the smartest observers of our dysfunctional mess of a political system think. So we

Editor's Note: This piece originally appeared in the Rapid City Journal and has been republished on IVN with permission from the author. ‍ I am a fourth generation South Dakotan and a lifelong Republican. I was once again disappointed last week as another legislative session came to an end marked by senseless disputes between far-right Republicans and their slightly more moderate brethren on issues of little importance to most of us. They debate issues like limiting the rights of the small num

In the latest episode of Toppling the Duopoly, host Shawn Griffiths  and his guests discuss a lawsuit that seeks to overturn the will of the people in Alaska, who approved a comprehensive reform amendment in November 2020 that: * Shines a light on dark money in state politics * Implements a nonpartisan top-four primary * Makes Alaska the second state to adopt ranked choice voting Joining Shawn to talk about this is Jason Grenn, executive director of Alaskans for Better Elections, and Scott

Alaskans for Better Elections, along with Alaska’s Division of Elections, have filed for summary judgment in a lawsuit to overturn the historic election reform a majority of voters approved in November 2020 under Ballot Measure 2. The amendment under Ballot Measure 2: * Broadens transparency in money flowing into state elections; * Implements a nonpartisan top-four primary; and * Makes Alaska the second state to adopt ranked choice voting in general elections. Read More: Alaska Becomes

Editor's Note: The following piece was originally published as a "Letter to the Editor" for the Portland Press Herald and has been republiched on IVN by request and with permission from the author. ‍ Maine voters still live in a darkened room called the closed primary. In a 2014 New York Times op-ed, Sen. Chuck Schumer urged America to adopt a top-two open-primary system. Sen. Joe Baldacci is sponsoring a top-two open-primary bill in Maine, L.D. 1121. It's truly democracy in action! In an op-

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. ‍ Despite record-high turnout in last year's general election, a new report found that a majority of congressional elections in 2020 were determined by only a small number of voters due to the widely used partisan primary system. Unite America, which released "The Primary Problem" on Tuesday, found that just 10 percent of voters cast ballots in primaries that ult

Photo Credit: Ahmed / Unsplash The general perception of young voters is that they are largely detached from politics and thus have no interest and don’t participate. Yet, the largest segment of the voting population -- Generation Y -- and the generation that follows, Gen Z, could completely change the way elections, and by extension politics, are conducted in the US. Public opinion polling shows broad dissatisfaction with the current two-party political structure: An overwhelming majority of

When representatives from the League of Women Voters, RepresentUs, and the Independent Voter Project first met in 2019, political insiders said it would take a miracle to bring an innovative election reform to the City of San Diego that would allow voters to “rank” four candidates in the general election, instead of choosing just one. In 2020, while COVID was putting the brakes on much of the world, more than a dozen organizations and thousands of local residents formed the More Choice San Dieg