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Oklahoma is as deep red as a state can get. Of the 2.2 million registered voters, over half are registered Republicans. But does this mean that voters outside the party shouldn’t have a say in who represents them?

New York City held primary elections on Tuesday, June 27, for city council and other municipal offices. NYC primaries are unique compared to most primary elections in the US in that they use ranked choice voting ballots and while RCV advocates tout the benefits it has on city elections -- they’re benefits only party members can enjoy........... Ranked choice voting gives voters an opportunity to rank candidates in order of preference rather than marking a ballot for a single candidate. If no on

Thursday, June 8, marked 13 years since California voters approved Proposition 14, the nonpartisan top-two (Top-Two) initiative authored by the Independent Voter Project (IVP). The anniversary was accompanied by a new study that shows how impactful Top-Two has been in providing better elections for voters and a healthier political environment in Sacramento. The Unite America Institute issued a report titled “California’s Top-Two Primary: The Effects on Electoral Politics and Governance.” In it,

A former member of Congress and two national reform groups have filed letters with the California Supreme Court supporting the Independent Voter Project’s (IVP) lawsuit that challenges the state’s cumbersome and confusing semi-closed presidential primary rules. Former US Rep. Tom Campbell, Open Primaries, and FairVote have asked the state's high court to give IVP -- and the individual plaintiffs signed onto the lawsuit -- a chance to lay out the evidence that the system unfairly burdens the vot

The Independent Voter Project has filed a petition with the California Supreme Court to hear its lawsuit challenging the state’s semi-closed presidential primary, which the group asserts has caused widespread voter confusion and suppressed the votes of millions of Californians. The lawsuit, which was originally filed in 2019 by IVP and 7 individual plaintiffs, cites 6 distinct violations to state and federal voting rights laws the state commits each presidential election cycle by using semi-clo

One of the nation’s most contentious battleground states has an opportunity to open its primaries to 1.2 million voters registered independent. A new bill in Pennsylvania recognizes that these citizens have a right to vote in the most important stage of the electoral process. Pennsylvania Senate Bill 400 amends the state’s electoral code to say that “[u]enrolled electors shall be permitted to vote in primary elections” in accordance with how primaries are structured by law. “Unenrolled electors

A new report from the McKinley Research Group (MRG) finds that Alaskans are generally satisfied with their new nonpartisan voting system. Not only is it simple, but they also have more confidence in their choices and that their votes matter more than in previous years. In 2020, a majority of Alaskan voters approved a complete overhaul to how the state elects its public officials. They changed the closed primary system to a nonpartisan top-4 primary, in which all voters and candidates (regardles

The New York Libertarian (LPNY) and Green Parties (GPNY) have petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear their case challenging state election rules designed by the major parties to knock third parties off the ballot. The scheme was so successful that every third party that doesn't nominate major party candidates lost their ballot access status statewide. Toward the end of 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo and state officials expanded the authority of a public campaign financing commission to rewrite el

For a state that claims to lead the nation in voter rights, California’s presidential primary rules are a study in hypocrisy. The California Constitution requires that all elections for partisan office be conducted in open nonpartisan primaries with the top two vote getters advancing to the general election. California’s presidential primary rules, however, are different. This is because, unlike races for governor, the legislature, and Congress, presidential primary voters are not selecting act

Voters added or expanded the use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in two US cities in the same week this month:  Redondo Beach, California, and Burlington, Vermont. An overwhelming majority of Redondo Beach citizens voted to add their city to the 6 California cities already using RCV (Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, Palm Desert, San Francisco, and San Leandro) and Eureka, which will use RCV for the first time in 2024. “Instead of low-turnout, toxic, and unrepresentative runoffs, RCV will give voters m