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On Monday, November 3, the EndPartisanship.org coalition filed an appellant brief with the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in New Jersey, maintaining the argument that the current primary system in the state grants the Republican and Democratic parties a monopoly over the election process while denying 47 percent of the electorate equal and meaningful access to the voting process: “Appellants have not asked this court (and did not ask the lower court) to issue a decision that would require

New Jersey is a decidedly purple state at the moment. Nearly half of the registered voting population is not affiliated with either major party. Voters have elected a Republican governor, two Democratic senators, and mostly supported Obama in 2008 and 2012. Currently, six Democrats and six Republicans represent New Jersey in the U.S. House. However, despite a broad shift within the New Jersey electorate away from the Republican and Democratic parties, most of these congressional districts have

The main talk of the 2014 election has been which political party will control the Senate after the votes have been counted. Democrats have been on defense throughout most of the country as President Obama's approval rating remains low. So with just a week to go before Election Day, how will the numbers fall? Here are my predictions. In this election cycle, Democrats have 38 seats that are safe or not up for re-election while Republicans have 42. So that is where my numbers start.Democrats are

No matter what political ideology a voter identifies with, every single election comes down to one thing: voter turnout. If voters don't go to the polls to cast ballots, their party affiliation, or lack thereof, doesn't matter. But which states have the worst turnouts and why?According to Nonprofit Vote, a group that works with nonprofit organizations to increase voting opportunities, in 2010, there were about 91 million votes cast across the country, which means that approximately 42 percent o

It seems almost crazy to bring up an Aesop's fable in a series about the Founding Father's legacy to America -- but the fable of The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse really exemplifies many of the problems the Founders faced when drafting a Constitution that served the whole United States, not just one aspect, demographic, or region. Examining this can give us very good insight into the modern political dilemma, and shows us that the Founders faced the same voting issues that the parties scanda

Nonprofits have been in the news lately, and it isn’t necessarily because of the good they’re doing. For starters, more than 412,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to revoke the National Football League’s 501(c)3 tax-exempt status, which the organization maintains despite reportedly raking in billions of dollars in revenue. Others are calling for the federal government to roll back coveted tax exemptions for faith-based organizations, with The Washington Post reporting that one secul

It seems like most politicians today sound like pre-programmed robots, spewing partisan sermons and perpetuating a superficial battle between a so-called “left” and a “right.” But why? Pretty simple: The Republican and Democratic parties have worked TOGETHER in court rooms and in state legislatures for decades, crafting election laws to ensure that 95 percent of elections are decided in primaries rather than in general elections when the most people vote. So what? Well, just listen to what t

(Newark, N.J.) - On Tuesday, the EndPartisanship.org coalition appealed a decision from the U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey. The district court held that only Democratic and Republican voters are qualified to participate in the state-funded primary election. The plaintiffs, which include registered Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters, argued, in part, that New Jersey’s closed primary system gives the Republican and Democratic parties unfair access to the democratic franchi

According to RealClearPolitics, approximately 13.4 percent of Americans approve of Congress and 77.8 percent disapprove, taking the average of 6 major surveys on congressional approval. Congress’ underwater popularity has served as a fount of political humor and -- regarding the reasoning of those who apparently approve of Congress -- speculation. According to some (questionable) attempts to categorize Congress’ fan base, it is made up of honest-to-goodness optimists, Obama haters, actual clown

I often ask myself: “Is America becoming a Third World country?” I’ve traveled all over the world and seen the ins and outs of developed and undeveloped nations, observing economic and political structures that work and many that don’t. And what I too often see in the Third World is that fair and equal treatment under the law often goes amiss. And it’s what’s lying beneath the surface in American politics — the nefarious deals made between corporations and the politicians that are supposed to k