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In the Massachusetts 2013 special election, voter turnout statewide marked a record low at only 27 percent. While special elections typically struggle to attract voter interest, last year was particularly bad. The state also saw declining turnout numbers in the last major national election as well. State lawmakers decided to address this lagging participation by passing a series of campaign reforms last week. These measures are intended to boost turnout and make democracy more accessible to Bay

After months of debate, the Federal Election Commission unanimously approved the use of bitcoins for political contributions. The decision also allows political committees to purchase digital currency as an investment. The decision came in the form of guidance to the Make Your Laws PAC and is not considered an official rule or regulation. However, the decision paves the way to the use of bitcoins by any federal political committee. The FEC is the latest federal agency to issue guidelines on the

Politico's Emily Schultheis reports that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a pro-LGBT group, has endorsed U.S. Representative Mike Honda (D-San Jose) in what could end up being the most competitive and perhaps most expensive U.S. House race in not only California, but the country. Honda's biggest challenge in the 17th Congressional District is from fellow Democrat Ro Khanna. In a statement, HRC COO Ana Ma praised Honda, saying he is "not only a supporter of LGBT equality, he is a champion in the

Presidential politics are all about numbers, from campaign spending, third party interest funding, and electoral votes (EV). Battleground states, by definition, shift the winning side every 4 years or so, hence they are where both Democrats and Republicans fight the hardest for each vote. Florida has nearly as many registered Democrats as Republicans, a diverse Latino population, and pockets of densely populated urban areas. It is expensive to run a campaign in the Sunshine State and with 29 el

Colorado made history in 2012 when state voters approved Amendment 64, which made it legal for people over 21 to buy small amounts of recreational marijuana. The law went into effect on January 1, 2014, making Colorado the first state to tax legal recreational marijuana. Much of the nation has been following Colorado’s venture, and recent reports note that the state is expected to bring in $98 million. This number is about 40 percent higher than original expectations. While most of America has

Can the Federal Communications Commission force Internet service providers to treat all data the same? That is the question Verizon Communications presented to the U.S. Court of Appeals and the court said no. As a result, the FCC has dumped net neutrality. The court ruled the FCC had overreached its authority by preventing broadband providers from blocking or slowing certain Internet traffic. The FCC, or its head Tom Wheeler, decided not to appeal, but instead took the opportunity to re-write t

The United States is once again in the middle of a major election year and in many elections, people will go the polls with only two options to choose from -- red or blue, Republican or Democrat. The problem is a majority of Americans do not believe either major political party represents America. According to the latest Rasmussen poll, 53 percent of likely voters believe "neither party in Congress is the party of the American people." While some may dispute the results of a single poll, furthe

On FiveThirtyEight, Nate Silver’s website, he recently predicted that the GOP will win the U.S. Senate, and retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Due to President Obama’s lagging popularity and the GOP’s more viable candidates, Silver’s research forecasts that Republicans are favored to win at least 6 seats in the Senate alone. However, what will be the major issues in these campaigns? Following the 2012 election, many politicians believed immigration reform would finally pass t

Despite police fears that legal marijuana businesses attract crime, including under-the-table drug dealing, weapons violations, and robberies, a new study says the opposite might be the case. Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas analyzed major crimes from 1990 to 2006 in the United States, paying particular attention to early medical marijuana states: Alaska (1998), California (1996), Colorado (2000), Hawaii (2000), Maine (1999), Montana (2004), Nevada (2000), Oregon (1998), Rhode

This week the Colorado Department of Revenue released tax figures for the state's first month of legal recreational marijuana sales and they are already comparable to tax receipts from alcohol sales, delivering on the promises of marijuana activists that legal marijuana could mean big revenue for state governments. According to state revenue officials, Colorado made $2 million in tax revenue from the state's 59 recreational marijuana businesses this January. That figure is much higher than the