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The American electoral system is highly dysfunctional. One of its most basic problems is that districts and states often have lopsided partisan preferences, meaning that general elections between the nominees of the two major parties are overwhelmingly formalities. Consequently, representatives may be effectively chosen in low-turnout partisan primaries that are paid for by all taxpayers, but are often limited to only a portion of the electorate. A number of reforms have been proposed to address

Zack Frank / shutterstock.com New Hampshire proves to be one of the more innovative states in its electoral process. In its House of Representatives, districts are allotted a number of representatives to serve based on their population. Some districts have only one representative, but others have as many as eleven. They are elected through a process of multi-member district voting, where the citizenry casts as many votes as there are seats to be filled instead of voting for each seat separatel

Katherine Welles / Shutterstock.com It seems like it was just yesterday President Obama won re-election helped in no small part by one of the widest margins of victories ever among Latino voters. Soon after, many Republicans began to openly pose concerns about Latinos not just voting Democrat, but voting overwhelmingly Democrat.As Obama moved on immigration reform, right wing stalwarts like Grover Norquist and Karl Rove began to warn Republicans of the need to address immigration reform for pra

Demand, meet Supply Amidst some disenchantment with both major political parties, the chart above shows, when looking across the 50 states, the share of votes earned by candidates that were not either Democratic or Republican has fallen significantly for U.S. House of Representative elections since 2000. The State Data Lab resource (Votes Cast for House Election – Other), developed by Truth in Accounting, shows that states with relatively high shares of non-major party votes in 2000 also had s

Nonprofit VOTE examined the impact of nonprofit organizations on voter behavior within seven states in an August 2013 study. It found that those contacted by a nonprofit organization -- in regards to the election -- turned out at 74 percent while 68 percent of all registered voters turned out. The data from the study suggests that nonprofit organizations fight an uphill battle when trying to increase turnout since their target audience has a historically low propensity to vote. However, nonpro

The partisan battles in North Carolina are extending their reach into the court system. Over the past year, the Republican controlled legislature, aided by a Republican governor, Pat McCrory, enacted a host of controversial legislation that banned gay marriage and put in place new abortion restrictions. Then last week, they passed new voting laws which MSNBC called "a truly abominable piece of anti-democratic legislation." The bill was purportedly to prevent fraud, although fraud has not been a

In 2012, Arizona took up an initiative, Proposition 121, to change the electoral system in the state to a nonpartisan, top-two primary system similar to California and Washington state. Currently, Arizona has a semi-closed primary system where voters must choose between the Republican or Democratic Party in order to participate in the primary process. While the initiative failed to garner voter approval, support for the major political parties continues to fall in the state. Currently, the numb

Credit: roarofthefour via flickr.com In 2012, 'dark money' accounted for over $300 million spent out of the total $6 billion according to Open Secrets. 'Dark money' refers to spending in an election where the donors behind the money are anonymous often with the aid of 501(c)(4) and (c)(6)'s. From $5.2 million in 2006, spending from these types of organizations more than doubled following the Supreme Court's decision in FEC v. Citizens United. Dark money has already played a role in California,

ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com Student debt may not be the only problem for millennials; they also must battle to stay upbeat about their jobs. According to a recent Gallup report, college educated employees appear less engaged in the workplace than those with a high school diploma or less. About 66 percent of people who either did not graduate high school or only received a high school diploma are engaged at work, Gallup reports. That number drops to 54 percent for people who have some coll

Janet Napolitano (Left) // Credit: Dept. Homeland Security via Barry Bahler Janet Napolitano was officially appointed as the 20st President of the University of California education system Thursday. She is the first female President of the UC system. Napolitano previously served as the Secretary of Homeland Security in the Obama Administration. She now heads to the largest  public education system in the world. The distinct career transition from safety to academia has raised more than a few e