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SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - The most important story not being told by the mainstream press today is the many movements that have emerged to give voters an electoral system that is truly “of, by, and for” the people. It has not, however, been overlooked by some independent filmmakers. Represent San Diego is hosting a free online screening of the PBS film, Democracy Rebellion, on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at 6 PM PDT. The film explores this missing story of voter empowerment by focusing on the solutions

The movement to take control of primaries out of the hands of political parties is growing. However, nonpartisan primary systems are only in place in a few states, and the only nonpartisan system in the South, Louisiana’s primary, is being targeted by partisan insiders. Fortunately, a bill that would have closed congressional primaries in the state was just dropped by its sponsor. Louisiana has what is commonly referred to as a “jungle primary,” which simply means all candidates, regardless of

We all know the system is broken. It’s rigged. It does not work. How do we know? Because our leaders are not producing solutions to the issues we care about. No one is listening, just talking past each other. But what if the system is working the way it was designed to work? What if politicians are operating very rationally and logically based on incentives of the political system in place? That is what many of the smartest observers of our dysfunctional mess of a political system think. So we

Propaganda. We imagine regimes feeding fake news to a subjugated populous via state-controlled media. Even though we have a free press in the U.S., we have our own forms of propaganda, which is why Cynara Velazquez created PoliticalPropoganda.org. “I've seen the lack of transparency in our current political system,” Velazquez said, explaining the need to ferret out the hidden ways corporate money influences our democracy. “We've created a system where you need so much money to run, it’s almost

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum, and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. ‍ As states prepare to redraw their election maps later this year, democracy reform advocates are raising the alarm once more about the severe threat of gerrymandering facing a vast majority of the country. The Gerrymandering Threat Index, released Monday by RepresentUs, identifies 35 states — with a collective population of more than 188 million people — at ext

Alaskans for Better Elections, along with Alaska’s Division of Elections, have filed for summary judgment in a lawsuit to overturn the historic election reform a majority of voters approved in November 2020 under Ballot Measure 2. The amendment under Ballot Measure 2: * Broadens transparency in money flowing into state elections; * Implements a nonpartisan top-four primary; and * Makes Alaska the second state to adopt ranked choice voting in general elections. Read More: Alaska Becomes

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. ‍ Despite record-high turnout in last year's general election, a new report found that a majority of congressional elections in 2020 were determined by only a small number of voters due to the widely used partisan primary system. Unite America, which released "The Primary Problem" on Tuesday, found that just 10 percent of voters cast ballots in primaries that ult

On this episode of Toppling the Duopoly, host Shawn Griffiths interviews Dan Falconer, director of the award-winning documentary film, UnRepresented. UnRepresented "reveals the driving forces behind political corruption and the unprecedented reforms to restore a government that better serves the people." Shawn and Dan discuss the nuances of a topic that is not as simple as many might assume. When people think of corruption, they think of illegal forms of it, like bribery. But, what happens when

Americans want options. They don't want to have to pick just between Coke and Pepsi. They don’t just want to have to pick between McDonald’s and Burger King. And, in higher numbers than at any other point in modern history, they want more than just Republicans and Democrats. Gallup recently found that nearly two-thirds of Americans (62%) believe the Republican and Democratic Parties are doing such a poor job that a third party is needed, while 33% of voters believe the two major parties are do

California District Attorneys Association President and El Dorado County DA Vern Pierson, joins us to discuss Los Angeles's spiraling gun violence, and how LA District Attorney George Gascón's policies are contributing to the surge in violent crime.