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Alaska Far away from the mainland United States, Alaska is a conservative, red state, but with a libertarian, live-and-let-live hue and a history of openness toward marijuana. In order to get marijuana legalization on the ballot in Alaska this year, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana in Alaska submitted more than 45,000 signatures to election officials on January 8. With only 30,000 verified signatures necessary to put their initiative on the ballot, Alaska voters will probably have the oppor

Table of Contents State-by-state Information How Do Primaries Work? Partisan v. Nonpartisan Closed (Partisan) Semi-Closed (Partisan) Open (Partisan) Open (Nonpartisan) Variants of Traditional Election Systems Top-Two Nonpartisan Primaries Top-Four Primary Instant Runoff Voting Approval Voting Unified Primary Other Voter Resources Independent Movements in Your State GENERAL ELECTION DATE: November 4, 2014 How do I vote? The following voter guide is tailored to provide vital info

On Friday, President Obama spoke before the Department of Justice to comment on his administration's internal review of intelligence programs used by the National Security Agency. The administration’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies suggested 40 changes to surveillance practices in the president's report delivered last month. In his statements, Obama ordered a new path for the United State's surveillance programs, in particular the controversial 'Section 215' provis

Primaries first began in the early twentieth century as a response to increasingly strong party control over elections. At the time, voters wanted a larger say in who would be chosen as their candidate, instead of the long-standing tradition of party bosses choosing who would run for office. Progressive reformers viewed direct primaries as a way for constituencies to increase transparency and allow for citizens to participate in the electoral process. As primaries became a feature of local, stat

Massachusetts passed the first wage law in 1912, followed soon after by thirteen more states and the District of Columbia. However, the Supreme Court ruling in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935) resulted in the defeat of a major provision of President Roosevelt’s “New Deal” and further efforts would not succeed until Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in 1938. A national minimum wage was established at $0.25 per hour.A few very sobering facts: , a startling perspec

United Van Lines (UVL) is one of the largest moving companies in the United States. Each year since 1977, UVL has issued a study of interstate migration patterns. This study reports the share of outbound shipments in total interstate shipments for UVL for each of the 48 “Lower United States” (e.g. all states but Alaska and Hawaii). We include this data in State Data Lab, along with a wide variety of other economic, demographic, and government financial data. On January 2 2014, UVL publicly rele

Entrepreneur Mark Frohnmayer is spearheading an initiative in Oregon to completely reform the electoral system in the state. The system combines a nonpartisan top-two primary system -- similar to the elections in California -- with approval voting. Frohnmayer calls this new nonpartisan election, "The Unified Primary." It is important to make a distinction between "open" and "nonpartisan" systems as the words are often interchanged, but they don't mean the same thing. An "open" system merely me

The GOP is trying to redesign its nomination process aiming to rein in the recent rash of extreme nominees who keep losing winnable races. These fringe nominees have secondary effects as well. Many blame the duration of the government shutdown on moderate Republicans fearing tea party primary challengers. So how can the GOP regain its balance and find its center? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db6Syys2fmE Go basic. Look to the voting method itself. Our choose-one method, plurality voting, lim

Last week, both Illinois and Hawaii passed same-sex marriage making them the 15th and 16th states to do so. Overall, 2013 has been quite a year for the LGBT community. These last two states just seem to put the icing on the proverbial cake. It all comes on the heals of the 2012 election where voters in three states (Maine, Maryland, and Washington) approved same-sex marriage and rejected a ban on it in the state of Minnesota. So, what has transpired during the year? Rhode Island, Delaware, Mi

Marijuana legalization activists gained considerable momentum this week. On Tuesday, the city of Portland, Maine, passed Question 1: 67 percent to 33 percent. The measure legalized possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana by adults over 21 years of age. Likewise, Colorado passed Proposition AA Tuesday, which added a 15 percent wholesale tax and 10 percent sales tax on marijuana transactions. These two ballot measures follow a national poll by Gallup that found support for outright legalizat