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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

By way of introduction, I’m Jeff Marston, co-chair of the Independent Voter Project. Starting today and every couple of weeks I’m going to be sending out these short updates with nonpartisan issues that I feel are important for us politicos to start thinking and talking about. I’m a lifelong Republican, always will be. I was even elected to California’s legislature as one. But I do nonpartisan communications now with a company that includes independents and Democrats. All my life, I’ve enjoye

The power of celebrity in America cannot be overstated. When a well-known celebrity (or even a not-so-well-known one) does something like try to run over a paparazzo with an ATV or alters their personal appearance, the American people get to hear about it. The media firestorm this week over Caitlyn Jenner's new 'groove' is no exception. And it wasn't just the Perez Hiltons of the media world ogling her Vanity Fair cover photo. "Serious" journalists like Chris Hayes at MSNBC and Neil Cavuto at F

We do not get our right to vote because we are white, black, gay, straight, male, female, conservative, liberal, a member of a private organization or any other criteria other than what makes us American: citizenship.Often, when talking to my conservative friends about “democracy,” they are quick to point out that the United States is a “constitutional republic,” and to “stop saying that America is a democracy!” And so I stop and read the first three words of the preamble of the Constitution. “

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

The New Jersey Watchdog reports that potential presidential candidate and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spent $82,594 at Jets and Giants games during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. No, this wasn't coming out of his $175,000/year salary -- it was spent as part of his expense advance, “an allowance of funds not otherwise appropriated and used for official receptions on behalf of the state, the operation of an official residence, for other expenses.” The governor receives a $95,000 per year allo

The 2016 election is already in full swing with eight candidates having officially declared their candidacy (two for the Democratic nomination, six for the Republican nomination). Polling of these candidates among potential constituencies has already begun as well, to wildly different projections. With 18 months still to go, a lot is sure to change. However, one factor is sure to influence the election, and that is the changing demographics in the American electorate. Much has been made of the

Our American election system is broken in no small part thanks to the primary election system. The Republican and Democratic parties have worked hand-in-hand for over a century to make ‘their’ party primaries the centerpiece of the entire electoral process. In an age where 43 percent of Americans consider themselves politically independent of the two major parties, the twisted state-sanctioned closed primary election process prevalent in the majority of U.S. elections frequently leads to elect

It can be hard to keep super PAC names straight. For example, there is Right to Rise, the committee supporting a presidential run by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and there is America Rising, another PAC designated to raise and spend unlimited sums of money in hopes of defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016. You may also have heard of Our American Revival (supporting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker), America Leads (New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie), and Pursuing America's Greatness (former Arkansas G

On Wednesday, April 8, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in the case, Balsam v. Guadagno (Secretary of the State of New Jersey). The court affirmed a lower district court’s decision to dismiss a constitutional challenge to New Jersey’s closed partisan primary, holding that New Jersey may limit those who have a fundamental right to cast a vote in the primary election to party members. Appellants argued that New Jersey’s closed primary elections, in a state where 48 percent