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(Photo credit David P.) For former congressman Virgil Goode, ballot access in the upcoming presidential race has been a remarkable challenge. Among the international community, the United States has been criticized for having remarkably difficult ballot access requirements for third party candidates. An unfortunate side effect of these stringent requirements is that it can be difficult for third party platforms and candidates to gain any traction or public exposure. This is also a result of th

Credit: sodahead.com Recent skirmishes between the Republican and Libertarian parties are instructive examples of ballot access fights that too often happen elsewhere too. In Washington, the Libertarian Party claims that the Republican Party should have to run under minority party status, and in turn should be barred from the ballot having failed to make minority party deadlines. In Pennsylvania, the Republican Party is challenging the signatures amassed by the Libertarian Party in an effort to

With the 2012 presidential election still in campaign mode, it may seem premature to discuss the possibilities for 2016, but since it is also convention time, it is interesting to examine the biggest movers and shakers at the Republican and Democratic conventions. A lot can change during the next presidential term with the possibility of the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act, comprehensive fiscal reform including altering the tax code, Middle-East conflicts, and countless other fac

In an interview Monday, Brian Dougherty, a Republican National Convention delegate from the Pennsylvania delegation told IVN that if the controversial RNC rule change advanced by the Romney camp at this week's convention were in place in 1976, Ronald Reagan would have never risen to prominence in the GOP at the 1976 Republican convention, which set the stage for his successful presidential bid in 1980. Dougherty said: "Now these rules as they are, if they were in place in 1976, Ronald Reagan w

I had IVN's Republican National Convention Correspondent Tom Brown on the phone just now, and he reports from Tampa that the Pennsylvania delegation took a vote this morning to support the new RNC rules drafted by the RNC rules committee, which contain controversial measures to give the national party and winning presidential campaigns like Gov. Mitt Romney's power over which delegates each state party sends to the national convention every four years and how they can vote. The Pennsylvania del

IVN's Wes Messamore interviews RNC Delegate Brian Dougherty Monday afternoon for an inside look at the RNC rule change controversy. Dougherty offers a clear explanation of the RNC rule change at issue, the different sides of the debate, who makes up the RNC rules committee and how rules are amended, and the effects that the controversial rule change might have on the Republican Party and future Republican primaries. For an intimate look at the rule change fight from inside the convention, and a

This Week's Theme: Party Conventions For the next two weeks, Independent Voter Network will be covering the two main presidential conventions, their messages and implications for the parties. Follow the coverage on IVN. A Growing Platform for Unfiltered News. IVN is expanding its platform every week to help bring independent contributors into the news cycle. Are you a delegate? A protestor? Are you a blogger or journalist? Then we want to hear from you!  At IVN, we dont filter the news. Our

(Photo: zazzle.com Third party candidates have had a notoriously difficult road in America. Many supporters of former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson have objected to the black out treatment their man has received from the mainstream media despite respectable poll numbers in his native state. The coverage of the Constitution Party's Virgil Goode has mostly been relegated to the notion that the former congressman might siphon enough of the vote in his native Virginia and neighboring North Caro

Credit: realclearpolitics.com The presidential race is won by obtaining 270 of the 538 votes in the Electoral College. President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney are campaigning relentlessly, but much of their focus is on battleground/swing states. Each party has states that they can rely on to vote in their favor, but achieving 270 electoral votes requires reaching out to those undecided states. To refresh memories, the Electoral College is a process by which we select our Pr

Photo: sfcitizen.com The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, expected to be an important swing state in 2012, has made headlines all week for a controversial voter ID law backed by the state's Republicans. Critics are calling it a partisan ploy to restrict ballot access and fix the results of November's general election in favor of Republican candidates, including presumptive presidential nominee, Governor Mitt Romney. But on the same day that a judge ruled in favor of Pennsylvania's voter ID law, a