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The much ballyhooed war on drugs in the United States is a failure. Our prisons are filled with low level drug users but drug cartels hardly ever get broken up. Meth is a scourge, devastating families and communities, as does heroin and cocaine. Tons of marijuana are routinely smuggled into the country, or grown here. Large amounts of prescription drugs are prescribed by Dr. Feelgood’s to patients who are not suffering symptoms. America leads the planet in drug use. A declaration of war assumes

With 100% of precincts now reporting, it appears that California's first statewide test of its new top two open primary system did not result in higher levels of voter turnout, as had been predicted by supporters of the system. Indeed, this primary election may be noteworthy for its historically low voter turnout in a presidential election year. Preliminary reports indicate that voter turnout across the state hovered in the 30-35% range, with the vast majority of eligible voters opting to stay h

Florida holds the dubious honor of wrongfully convicting the largest number of innocent people put on death row. Since 1973, the Sunshine State wrongfully incarcerated and released twenty-three people set for a state sanctioned killing. And nationwide, 140 people in twenty-six states have been exonerated of the crimes for which they were convicted and sent to death row. If this tells independent voters anything, it’s that the criminal justice system is in desperate need of reform, with capital p

Every ten years, district lines are redrawn following an updated US Census report. Whether at the state or federal level, partisan legislators have always redrawn the lines based on the reports. Out of concern for their own incumbency and out of a desire to reduce competition (and thereby lower the cost to run elections), the Democrats and Republicans “trade seats” by creating highly Democratic and highly Republican districts. This pushes electoral competition to the primary, where voter turnout

Libertarian presidential candidate and former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson's popularity despite his third party affiliation and lack of national press continues to grow. A new poll of 500 voters in Arizona by Public Policy Polling from May 17th-20th has shown that Johnson is currently at 9% voter support, a record high for himself and just 6% short of the 15% needed to enter the national television debates. In recent months prior to this poll, Johnson was consistently remaining between 6-

One of the most enduring myths in US politics is the assertion that there are no alternatives to the candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties. Many would-be voters who are fed up with the forced choice between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dumber are undoubtedly more likely not to vote than head to the polls and cast their ballot for a third party or Independent alternative. Given the lack of media coverage devoted to third party and Independent candidates, a large portion of the electorate

One of the enduring oddities of the American political landscape remains the electoral college, the antiquated system that makes selective states disproportionately important to the election process of our Commander-in-Chief. Do you live in one of the 12 swing states seen as integral to victory in this year's presidential election cycle? If so, expect a flood of political ads, battling voter registration drives, and campaign visits in the coming months. A new USA Today/Gallup poll out this week

According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, Mexican immigration has slowed dramatically over the last decade, and net migration may have even gone negative. That’s right, Mitt Romney’s dream has come true and more Mexicans may be leaving America (both voluntarily and involuntarily) than entering. Whether this is happening because of stricter identification laws and immigration enforcement, as Romney would prefer, is still in question: the Pew Center cannot identify for sure why the l

Ever since Ralph Nader's infamous impact on the 2000 presidential election, both the Democratic and Republican parties have feared an influential third party candidate. While third parties provide hope for independent voters, the establishment is worried about the threat to its power. Party leaders see the grim possibility of the spoiler effect, in which a minor independent or third party candidate draws votes away from a major candidate, affecting the outcome of an election. The two major part

If Mitt Romney can hold back the energized Ron Paul faction's tenacious bid for a brokered convention in Tampa, he'll be free to focus his remaining energy on uniting Republican voters behind his candidacy and convincing Democratic and Independent voters, especially in key swing states, to abandon the candidate they swept into the White House in 2008 and vote Romney 2012. Because of his perceived value to a Romney ticket in November, Republican strategists and talking heads-- not to mention eve