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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,

New Mexico elections have long been plagued by a lack of competition and unequal treatment of voters who choose not to affiliate with a political party. Yet, according to New Mexico Open Elections, the political landscape is shifting in the favor of nonpartisan reform. Independent voters are not allowed to participate in taxpayer-funded primary elections, despite the fact that these elections are almost always the most critical stage of the electoral process. Legislative districts are so safe f

Independent and third-party efforts are no strangers to attacks in the media and from party elites. The latest victim of an organized takedown of a challenger to the two parties has been No Labels, the centrist group organizing a 2024“Presidential Unity Ticket” to offer independent and moderate voters an alternative to the likely Democratic and Republican nominees: Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Historically, independent candidates and groups attempting to mobilize the growing number of voters who

Editor's Note: This op-ed originally published on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. As a young voter, I’ve asked myself, “how can I use my voice in a big way?” My first thought was to go out and vote, but when I showed up to the last primary election I was turned away. That’s because while I’m a registered voter, I’m one of over three million independent voters in New York that are barred from voting in the primaries. I thought back to a time when

One million Pennsylvania voters are locked out of taxpayer-funded primary elections. Local reformers have mobilized to change the system -- and with recent bipartisan legislation introduced to open primaries to independent voters, it looks like their efforts are bearing fruit. Open Primaries President John Opdycke and Ballot PA Chair David Thornburgh hosted a discussion with former PA Senate President Joe Scarnati and Independent Pennsylvanians Director Jennifer Bullock, along with local reform

Editor's Note: This piece originally published on The Fulcrum and has been re=published on IVN with permission from the publisher. The authors are Todd Connor and Eric Bronner, who are Navy veterans and co-founders of Veterans for Political Innovation. Alaska is a unique state in many ways, including one that may surprise you: Alaska leads the way for election innovation. That’s right: while many states in the lower 48 are stuck with toxic, partisan politics and party-base controlled elections,

Gallup's latest polling found that 49% of Americans self-identify as independent of the two major parties. The record-setting number shows voters’ growing dissatisfaction with the US political process and their options. Notably, Gallup analyst Jeff Jones observed that Gen X and Millennials are bucking a historical trend. In the past it was not uncommon for young voters to say they were independent and then as they got older, they would settle on a party because the system only gives them two c

It is no coincidence that as the nation witnesses an explosion in pro-voter reform successes, partisan state lawmakers across the country are trying to undermine citizen initiatives, and block nonpartisan primary reform and new voting methods designed to give people more choice. In 2023, governors in Idaho and South Dakota have signed laws that prohibit the use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in their states. HB 598 in Montana, which seeks to do the same thing, has passed the legislature, while a

Editor's Note: The following op-ed was authored by Kevin Johnson and Alexander Vanderklipp. Tuesday’s election for the open 7th seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court smashed records for campaign spending and drew huge media attention to the “most important election” of the year. When the votes were counted and liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz emerged ahead, declarations of “a victory for democracy” emerged from a range of organizations and media outlets. The result was clearly a political vict

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