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The Democratic primary race appeared to be incredibly close during the Iowa caucus Monday night, where candidate Hillary Clinton reportedly won at least six precincts by way of a coin toss. While the caucus numbers led former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to drop out of the race, it left Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in a virtual tie in several precincts. Some precincts solved the tie by flipping a coin and various reports show that in at least six different cases, Clinton was declar

The first rule of Voting Club is that we do not complain unless we have voted. The second rule of Voting Club IS THAT WE DO NOT COMPLAIN UNLESS WE HAVE VOTED! The cliché saying goes, “If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain.” However, political lethargy is widespread in the United States. By and large, Americans increasingly don’t vote. The 2014 midterms experienced the lowest voter turnout in 72 years—only 36% of eligible voters cast a vote. And judging by the comment sections of mos

NEW YORK, Jan.12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The vast majority of recent college graduates believe that the current presidential candidates are not talking about the issues that matter most to them, according to a new survey of millennials by GenFKD, a non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting economic understanding and financial literacy to college students and recent graduates. Millennials account for 36 percent of eligible voters, the largest demographic in the 2016 election, acc

In recent news, Ohio state officials told Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley that he could not be on the Democratic primary ballot. The petition to be on the ballot required 1,000 valid signatures from a single county. O’Malley submitted 1,175, but only 772 were considered valid. Both of his fellow Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, are on the ballot. Presidential primaries are often reserved only for partisan candidates, but that does not nec

The spirit of America is strong; the state of our union is fragile. That is my conclusion after 100 days driving 14,128 miles through 34 states as an independent candidate for President of the United States. I met with over 1,000 people individually and in small groups. I mostly stayed away from big cities and college campuses. I had learned on two short campaign trips before this long one that very few Americans understand there are independent candidates running for office so I got in the ha

The last 15 years since 9/11 has set into American minds a very narrow view of what terrorism means. A fitting standard definition is: Merriam-Webster This definition both fits our current battles with Islamic extremism, yet it also encompasses most historical acts of terrorism. In the New World, terrorism didn't take long to strike and like today it was along a very bitter, very old religious divide -- historically, we know it as the "Plundering Time." Spring was not quite coming as expecte

The United States is often celebrated as the world’s leading example of representative government. However, we as a nation barely inspire half of our voters to show up for a national election—leaving U.S. voter participation among the lowest in the developed world. Americans don’t vote for a variety of reasons; however, one of the most common reasons is the growing frustration with our obtuse electoral process. From the arbitrary scheduling of primaries to the antiquated use of the Electoral Co

On November 3, the Maryland Redistricting Reform Commission proposed a plan that would allow an independent committee to draw legislative districts. Under Maryland’s current system, the governor and legislature decide how electoral districts are drawn, and the new commission would disallow any politician from participating. The plan was approved 9-1 by a commission appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan to determine a new method of drawing legislative districts. According to The Washington Post, Gov. H

Election Day 2015 has come and gone, and voters in cities in six states again found that they were not limited to marking only one candidate, but had the ability to rank the candidates in order of choice. Voters had the chance to vote with ranked choice voting in the following city elections: * San Francisco, CA * Telluride, CO * Saint Paul, MN * Takoma Park, MD * Portland, ME * Cambridge, MA That expansion of voter power is not a miracle cure-all for our democracy, but has clear positiv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4IsqmMqCEo Democratic candidate Lawrence Lessig declared Monday that he is dropping out of the presidential race. In a YouTube video posted to his channel, Lessig said, "I must today end my campaign for the Democratic nomination and turn to the question of how best to continue to press for  now" Lessig began his campaign running to be a "referendum president," an unconventional idea in American politics. The sole purpose was to promote and eventually pass the y