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The League of Women Voters (LWV) has filed an amicus brief (friend of the court) in the U.S. Supreme Court case Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. The LWV sides with the independent redistricting commission (and lower court), arguing that the state legislature acts in an extremely hyper-partisan manner, which only hurts the political process. At issue in the case is the constitutionality of independent redistricting commissions. The outcome of the case,

Vote Hemp, a major grassroots hemp advocacy group, on Thursday announced the introduction of complementary bills in the U.S. House and Senate, S. 134 and H.R. 525, titled the " Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015," with support on both sides of the political aisle. The Act would remove federal restrictions on the cultivation of industrial hemp, the non-drug oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis. “With bi-partisan support in the Senate and House, we are eager to see 2015 be the year Congress

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOLqVIkUqPY Newly-elected U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) gave a rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday that sounded more like a primary campaign video than an attempt to refute the president's agenda and platform for the coming year. Ernst could have taken the time to address any number of the president's ideas, including education, foreign policy on Iran, equal pay for women, new child tax credits, or Obamacare success stories. In

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration published state-level data from it's National Survey on Drug Use and Health this month. The data examines marijuana use in each state from the last two years. In a state-by-state comparison of marijuana use, Rhode Island topped the chart with 14.8 percent of residents age 12 and older consuming the substance monthly. A number of states that have recently passed legislation to legalize the drug for adults over 21 were also near the t

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On Tuesday, November 4, registered Oregon voters who participated in the midterm elections were able to weigh in on 7 ballot measures, one of which, Measure 90, would reform the current primary system in the state from a closed partisan primary to a nonpartisan, top-two open primary. The measure failed in a vote that was not even close, 68.3 percent voting “No” and 31.7 percent voting “Yes.” In the last 4 years, 3 top-two ballot measures have appeared on statewide ballots in 3 different states

On Monday, the Equal Vote Coalition (EVC) filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Third Circuit of Appeals in the case, Balsam v. Guadango (the lawsuit filed by the EndPartisanship.org coalition), supporting the argument that the closed partisan primary in New Jersey does not protect the fundamental right all voters have to an equal and meaningful vote. The Equal Vote Coalition was founded by Mark Frohnmayer, an entrepreneur and technologists from Oregon, who was the chief petitioner of 2014 Orego

For many advocates of marijuana legalization, 2014 was a banner year. With initiatives passing in Oregon, Alaska, and in Washington D.C., it seems that the United States may be just a few short years away from complete federal legalization. Now that advocates can point to the relative successes of marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado, the nation could see an increase in ballot measures in 2016. Here are the 5 states most likely to explore full legalization next: 1. California Th

Across the Americas, marijuana is entering the mainstream. Along with a Republican victory in the November elections, various marijuana laws passed around the country in referendum measures. Similarly, marijuana legislation has passed in elected bodies around Latin America in recent years. The nature of these laws, however, differ drastically. Here is a regional comparison to see the state of legalization and decriminalization around the Western hemisphere. In the most recent election, Oregon

Although California is the most populous state in the nation with just over 38 million people spanning a length of about 800 miles, its political leaders at the federal and state executive levels come from largely urban areas, specifically the Bay Area. This concentration of power calls into question the very nature of a representative government. To look at these top political leaders in the U.S. Senate and in the state capital, one would assume that the Bay Area has proportionately many more