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In February 2015, Edwin Gomes became the first candidate running solely on the Working Families Party (WFP) line to win a seat in a state legislature. Gomes beat out four other candidates in a special election to represent Connecticut’s 23rd senate district. On May 5, 2015, the WFP won another special election – this one to fill a vacant seat in New York’s legislature. Diana Richardson now represents the General Assembly's 43rd district, covering Crown Heights and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Th

A Quinnipiac University poll taken in March released Monday. It found that more than 80 percent of adults in key swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida supported legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Likewise, a majority in all three states also supported legalizing small amounts for recreational use. When compared to the likely 2016 presidential candidates, a peculiar picture emerges. The Washington Post turned the data into the following graphs: Marijuana was once

Black and white illustrations by Andy Schuler. Any academic will tell you that our choose-one voting method (plurality voting) is a terrible, terrible voting method. (There’s better.) In fact, plurality voting is so bad that it deserves its own top five list. Here it is. Number 5: It’s Inexpressive Plurality voting is among the least expressive voting methods there is. A plurality ballot puts a slate of candidates in front of you and forces you to choose only one. No more. Consider how str

South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard signed a bill dramatically changing the laws governing ballot access for Independent candidates just months after an Independent took 17% of the vote in a statewide election. The bill, Senate Bill 69, an act to revise certain provisions regarding elections and election petitions, specifically addresses how many signatures an Independent candidate must collect to get on the ballot, and who is allowed to sign the candidate's petition. The bill prevents any r

On Sunday, March 22, the Independent Voter Project, represented by Chad Peace, discussed the current lawsuit before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the constitutionality of the closed primary system in New Jersey during the political segment, Politically Speaking, on NBC7 in San Diego."When the state gets involved in conducting an election process, it should serve the people, and it should be a system that is designed to get representatives that best represent everyone," Peace say

As of February 6, there have been 121 reported cases of the measles in 17 states and Washington, D.C., in 2015 alone. If the measles outbreak continues at this pace, the number of reported cases in 2015 will surpass 2014's record-setting numbers. Measles cases: Jan. 1 to Feb. 6, 2015. There are 121 cases reported in Washington, DC and 17 states (California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Texas, Washington, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New York, N

The New York Times reported Monday that federal regulators are expected to draft new rules to govern short-term loans, including car titles and payday loans, which to date have fallen mostly under the jurisdiction of individual state law. While many states have tried to put an end to short-term loans with exorbitant interest rates, payday lenders have found ways to get around these laws or have lobbied state legislatures to soften regulations. "Such maneuvers by the roughly $46 billion payday

"They are trying to take the Bible out of our schools!" While this might sound like a headline from any number of modern media outlets, this was a rallying cry of a series of riots that took place in Philadelphia in the summer of 1844. These riots were a backlash against a growing anti-Catholic, anti-Irish sentiment that had been brewing for the preceding decade. However, a closer examination into this forgotten bit of American history gives us insight into many of our problems today. Being

On Thursday, January 15, oral arguments were made before the California State Appeals Court in San Francisco in the case Rubin v. Bowen. Third parties continue to challenge the nonpartisan, top-two open primary in the state, claiming that the system violates the association rights of political parties and disenfranchises third-party voters in the general election. Richard Winger, who runs the site Ballot-Access.org, wrote a post on the oral arguments, implying that third parties were poorly re

Polls suggest young voters’ preferences, in regards to both candidates and policies, have become more socially liberal in the past 15 years. Millennials: The Politically Unclaimed Generation, a report released in July by Reason-Rupe, a Libertarian public policy think-tank, found that “a majority of millennials, 53 percent, would support a candidate who described him or herself as socially liberal and economically conservative.” Only 48 percent of young adults between the ages of 18-29 voted fo