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Last week, Congress avoided a government shutdown by agreeing to a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded for another week. Then over the weekend, US lawmakers agreed to a deal that will extend funding through September while Congress and the White House continue to negotiate longer-term fiscal policy priorities. The US House passed the budget deal Wednesday. But amidst Washington's annual kabuki theater dance around fiscal policy and possible government shutdowns, a litt

Gerrymandering is nearly as old as America itself, named after James Madison’s vice president and governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry. The advantageous practice of drawing legislative districts along partisan lines may seem unfair, but thanks to the support from the two major parties it has remained part of the status quo for over 200 years. That has diminished the number of competitive races and creates more partisan legislatures, both on a state and national level. Like with any governm

Green Party ballot access campaigns have had more success in 2016 than ever before, according to Rick Lass, Ballot Access Coordinator for the Jill Stein campaign. You can check out the Greens' infographic to see states turn green as each state's required signatures are submitted. So far, 43 states are green. Lass is sure that Greens will make it onto 44 state ballots, plus Washington, D.C. The only state so far, with no chance of turning green is South Dakota. Greens failed to gain ballot acce

Green Party signature coordinators across the country are reporting an influx of Bernie Sanders supporters to the Greens' campaign. How far the new momentum will take the party in the 2016 election is yet to be seen. The first order of business is to get the Greens recognized on state ballots, or at least to get Jill Stein, the presumptive presidential nominee, recognized as an independent presidential candidate. As of August 1 Several ballot access deadlines hit this week. In addition to the

Donald Trump’s fan base looks different from what you might imagine. Some characterize Trump supporters as caucasian men, likely living on a farm in rural Wyoming. However, Trump support is quite diverse. Despite some of the comments we have heard from Trump and the media's response, women and minorities do not always shy away from the candidate. Trump has support from individuals of every demographic. Trump does not lead in the polls with any of these groups. Women and minorities are not his

“Americans vote for their president.” Well, yes and no. America’s presidential election system relies on the Electoral College, a group of men and women chosen by state parties to vote in their favor. When Americans go to the polls, they choose their candidate of choice, and trust that the party electors will vote as the citizens have chosen. Each state has a certain number of electors: California has the most, with 55; other states, like Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska, have as few as three. The

Let’s be clear here. Major-party primaries in the US are absurd. Parties in most countries select their nominees privately and pay for it on their own dime. That’s not surprising either considering that political parties are private organizations. In the US, however, parties do their primaries publicly. That may sound nice, but as private organizations, US parties get to make their own rules. These rules conveniently include who gets to vote and how those votes are counted. The benefits to ma

Republican presidential candidate John Kasich is often plain spoken, even about his own party's flaws. In a meeting with the Washington Post's editorial board, Kasich gave a brutally honest reason for his party's opposition to D.C. statehood: What it really gets down to, if you want to be honest, is because they know that’s just more votes in the Democratic Party. Looking at any red/blue county map, you can instantly see what Kasich is talking about. Most of the urban areas in and around Wash

The 2016 RNC convention in Cleveland is only three months away, but it is perhaps a rule used in 2012 that will have the greatest impact in Ohio. In 2012, Republicans were worried about Ron Paul's popularity possibly upsetting establishment candidate Mitt Romney's clear path to the nomination. So, the RNC Rules Committee changed the rules. Whereas previous conventions allowed for any candidate with the largest share of delegates in at least five states to be placed on the ballot, Republicans r

With the summer fast approaching, and as establishment leaders in both parties frantically try to simmer the flames of the primary chaos, there is still a chance that this election could become even more unconventional than it already is. At the moment both parties are in sticky situations as the establishment wing of the parties are either completely underwater or desperately treading water. With both Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio out of the race, and with Gov. John Kasich having just 147 delegates