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It seems that in every political discussion that involves more than a dozen people, two things are sure to happen: someone is called a 'Hitler' and someone blames our political woes on the Electoral College. Godwin's law seems absolute, but we really don't have a good term for people who think that eliminating the Electoral College is the cure. Even stranger, it always seems like the supporters of this tend to be on the conservative side -- which the Electoral College favors by giving the rura

Como republicano, anterior representante del 25avo Distrito Congresional de California (1993-2015), y Presidente del Comité de las Fuerzas Armadas del Congreso, fui testigo de primera mano de la ética laboral de Loretta Sánchez, de su atinado juicio, y su compromiso para asegurar la seguridad de los Californianos. Me da un gran orgullo el dar mi apoyo a la persona más calificada para representar a la gente de California, sin importar el partido, y le pido a mis conciudadanos de California que se

The 2016 Presidential election has been dubbed by many as a choice between “the lesser of two evils” and many voters are so disenchanted with the entire process that they are threatening to sit out this year. In response to discontent with the available choices, disgust with political corruption, and a feeling that their vote doesn't matter, many Americans question why they should bother to register to vote in the first place. Voter apathy is not something new in America, but in a USA Today pol

RNC Chair Reince Priebus is going all in on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and he wants to make sure any Republican with ambitions of a political future does as well. Making an appearance on CBS's Face the Nation, Priebus hinted at possible "penalties" for former GOP presidential candidates who do not uphold their pledge to support the GOP nominee. “If they’re thinking they’re going to run again some day, I think that we’re going to evaluate the process of the nomination process,

Georgia voters returned to the polls on July 26 for a round of primary runoffs, where they were asked to choose between the top two vote-getters in any primary race where no candidate won a majority of the vote. Throughout this election season, FairVote has followed primary runoffs around the country and written about their many failings, including the enormous cost of one Alabama runoff and the dismal turnout for Texas’s runoffs. Unfortunately, Georgia’s July 26th contests appear to be another

The House of Representatives last week voted to pass legislation allowing victims of terrorism greater ability to sue foreign government officials. Called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), it has ramifications for Washington's relationship with Saudi Arabia. The Congressional Research Service reports: "This bill amends the federal judicial code to narrow the scope of foreign sovereign immunity by authorizing US courts to hear cases involving claims against a foreign state

With smartphone ownership being so common in the U.S., the questions surrounding electronic voting are becoming increasingly important. 39 percent of likely voters surveyed by Consumer Reports said they would choose voting by computer or mobile device over traditional methods. But despite the growing openness to electronic voting, e-voting opportunities have declined since the mid-2000s. Because states lack the funding to repair and replace newer voting machines, many have reverted to more tradi

It goes without saying that the Republican Party’s nomination of Donald Trump, a high-profile businessman with no experience holding elected office, for the presidency has been the most discussed development in American politics this year. News coverage of Mr. Trump’s primary victory eclipsed even that of the first major-party presidential nomination of a woman, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. However, even as ocean waves can sometimes be accompanied by dangerous rip currents, the en

This article is Part 2 in a two-part series reviewing Supreme Court ballot access decisions and the effects of the Court's precedents on independent and third party candidates. You can read Part 1 here. Munro v. Socialist Workers Party (1986) In 1986, the Court accepted a challenge to a Washington state ballot access provision. This provision required third party candidates to receive at least one percent of the vote in the state's blanket primary in order to appear on the general election ba

American elections have come a long way since Dwight D. Eisenhower bought the first television advertising spots ever used for political campaigning in history, employing 20 and 60-second spots to convey his message to the American voters. Before technology, two-way campaigning was difficult. Politicians could only be in one place at a time, often the battles took place in the newspapers -- and the 'two-way' aspect of campaigning, especially the collection of donations, was difficult to mainta