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The voter turnout in the Wisconsin primaries Tuesday surpassed expectations and broke records. Around 1.1 million voters turned out in the Republican primary while 1 million showed up on the Democratic side. It was the highest primary turnout in the state in decades. The 49% voter turnout smashed the 40% projection made by the Government Accountability Board, even beating the 47.7% turnout of 1972 when George McGovern (D) and Richard Nixon (R) won their respective primaries. The only state wit

South Dakotans for Nonpartisan Elections announced this week that it is launching a statewide campaign to educate voters about nonpartisan primaries in the hopes that Amendment V, an initiative to implement nonpartisan open primary elections, will pass in November 2016. Amendment V, if passed, would implement nonpartisan primary elections for state races, similar to the nonpartisan primary systems in California, Nebraska, and Washington state. “People in this country are increasingly suspiciou

The Arizona Republic reported Wednesday that Arizona Governor Doug Ducey is calling on the state to open its presidential primary to independent voters. The announcement comes after tens of thousands of voters were forced to cast provisional ballots on Tuesday, many of which will end up not being counted, because the voters are not registered members of the Republican, Democratic, or Green parties. "One way we can fix things is to simplify them,” Ducey said, in a statement. “That means allowing

With 19 wins and well over 700 delegates under his belt, the race for the Republican presidential nomination is looking good for Donald Trump. Barring a contested convention or maneuvering from the party leadership to block him at the Republican National Convention, Trump remains the odds-on favorite to win the nomination. This leaves one major question, who will Trump pick to be his running mate? There has been some speculation that after Chris Christie endorsed Trump that he may be high on

Today, Arizona voters are headed to the polls to decide which presidential candidates they prefer to take the 58 delegates in the Republican contest and 75 delegates on the Democratic contest. However, more than 1.2 million citizens in Arizona – more than a third of all registered voters in the state – won't be allowed to cast a ballot. The presidential preference election (PPE) is only open to members of the Democratic, Republican, and Green parties, meaning that voters registered as independe

Correction note: This article originally said that Open Primaries spent $300,000 in support of the donation disclosure initiative. It was the coalition in support of both initiatives. The article has been corrected. Salon reported Thursday that a campaign to adopt nonpartisan elections in Arizona suspended its efforts after a major donor dropped out. Texas billionaire John Arnold had contributed at least $1 million in support of the campaign to adopt a nonpartisan, top-two open primary similar

Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump is dominating the GOP field right now, despite the fact that few took his candidacy seriously when he launched his campaign last summer. His anti-establishment appeal has not only won over many Republican voters, but despite having an unconventional campaign, he has one some high profile political  and business endorsements. Here is a list of his biggest endorsements to date: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Maine Governor Paul LePage (previ

NPR recently reported nationally on an interview between public radio reporter Jude Joffe-Block and campaign directors of two nonpartisan organizations on the state of elections in Arizona. Joffe-Block spoke with Patrick McWhorter of Open Primaries and Timothy Castro of Independents for Arizona, who argue that independent voters are not being treated fairly. “Independent voters, now 37 percent of all Arizona registered voters, are treated like second-class citizens,” argued McWhorter. Arizona

The Salt Lake Tribune reported Tuesday that legislation to create an independent redistricting commission in Utah stalled in committee. The proposed 9-member commission was recommended for study over the summer. HB313 was introduced by Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck (D-Salt Lake City) in an effort to restore public trust and confidence in the redistricting process and elections. Supporters of the bill include the League of Women Voters and Represent Me Utah, a nonprofit organization that pushes for

If the 2016 presidential election is proving anything, it’s that voters are not happy with the state of their union. On the left and right, we’re seeing insurgents give establishment candidates a run for their money. Democrats are breaking from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont), a longtime independent and self-declared democratic socialist. Republicans are meanwhile finding it difficult to prevent real-estate billionaire Donald Trump from locking up th