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While a majority of Americans - 52 percent - now favor weed legalization, the federal government has done very little to act on the changing views of the nation. Many states, however, have taken matters into their own hands, passing legislation to better represent the changing attitudes of their residents. Today, 4 states - Oregon, Colorado, Washington, and Alaska - plus our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, 24 states have legalized medical ma

The movement to reform Illinois redistricting has faced numerous hurdles in recent years, but may be getting new life. One of those movements came in 2014 when the amendment of a group called Yes for Independent Maps was struck down as unconstitutional by a circuit court judge and by the Illinois State Board of Elections for lack of admissible signatures. Independent Maps, now called the Independent Map Amendment, was organized in late April to engineer a new campaign for reforming the redistri

Florida's Supreme Court struck down much of the state's congressional districting map on July 9, ordering the redrawing of what it termed "constitutionally invalid" districts in 2 of the 27 districts (requiring a change to 8 congressional districts). Each district represents about 710,000 voters, making this one of the most significant court cases ever involving the practice of gerrymandering. In 2010, Florida's voters overwhelmingly approved (62.9%) a constitutional amendment with some of the

On Thursday, July 9, 2015, the Florida Supreme Court discarded parts of Florida’s congressional district maps, saying that state legislators had violated a provision of the Florida constitution prohibiting political considerations in redistricting when drawing the districts. The Independent Voter Project (IVP) this week filed a petition for Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of New Jersey’s “closed” primary election system based on the same premise – ele

Hey there. Here’s my latest offering and take on a number of items related to nonpartisan issues and voter reform efforts from around the nation. From the Supreme Court ruling on redistricting commissions to the Independent Voter Project petitioning the same Supreme Court -- and everything in between -- it has been a busy couple of weeks. Thanks for reading. Jeff Why Labor’s Dem-on-Dem Attacks Are Foolhardy Source: CalBuzz With so much of the national media attention focused on the GOP and

A recent conference at the USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics hosted by the school's director, Dan Schnur, in collaboration with Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) Leadership Institute, provided participants with knowledge about California's political landscape. With particular focus on women in politics, voter trends, mobilization, and education, panelists discussed their viewpoints and answered questions in order to enhance the participants' skills during the training semi

CALIFORNIA -- Last week turned out to be a good one for California political reform and direct democracy. Early in the week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on an Arizona case that upheld the constitutionality of the state's independent redistricting commission. California and Arizona are part of a handful of states that have taken the power to draw political districts out of the hands of elected officials and given it to a citizen panel. Californians actually approved the idea twice. In 2008, vo

This week, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge by the Arizona legislature, which was seeking to invalidate an Independent Redistricting Commission established by Arizonans through the initiative and referendum process. The Arizona Legislature asserted that they, not a voter created independent commission, had the right to draw congressional district lines. They based their arguments on a literal reading of the constitution. But in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the S

A coalition led by the Independent Voter Project (IVP) filed a petition for Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday in a case challenging the constitutionality of New Jersey’s closed primary system. The coalition, which includes IndependentVoting.org and 7 individual plaintiffs, argues that the current election process in New Jersey gives political parties and their members a decided advantage in the election process at the expense of individual voters, includ

On June 26, I attended an event in Cambridge, Massachusetts called the City Dance Party. Every year thousands of people flock to this event from all over the Greater Boston Area. The streets ringing City Hall are closed down, and for a few hours the square in front of City Hall is turned into an enormous dance party. At night, the front of City Hall is lit up with swirling lights while colored spotlights pan over the jubilant crowd. As the event neared its end, the energy of the crowd was surgi