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To focus the combined strengths, skills, and experience of some of the nation’s leading election reform organizations toward increasing voter participation and electoral competition, a prominent group of nonpartisan political reform leaders have formed the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers. Founding members include representatives from the Bridge Alliance, Independent Voter Project, the Chamberlain Project, FairVote Action, Open Primaries, the Centrist Project, California Forward, a

Update: The Senate voted Monday to reopen the government, and extend funding until February 8, setting up yet another potential shutdown fight. The recent government shutdown is only the latest manifestation of the partisan logjam gripping America, and sure not to be the last. All the political rhetoric over the past few years — ever since the rise of the Tea Party and the subsequent focus on emotions over results — has been driving us to this point, and it was obvious. Sadly, it may have also

Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has made the headlines seemingly every week since his spat with President Trump back in 2017, and since then, it has been a war of words: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/898136462385979392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffreewheelus.com%2Fsenator-flake-actions-speak-louder%2F Senator Flake is a man capitalizing on the emotions President Trump brings out in our society, especially those who identify as “anti-Trump”. His speech on January 17 didn’t

All eyes in political reform circles are on the Wisconsin gerrymandering case (Gill v. Whitford) argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on October 3, 2017. The case was brought by a group of Democrats challenging the redistricting plan adopted by the state legislature’s Republican majority and signed into law by its Republican governor. The plaintiffs claimed that their constitutional rights to equal protection and freedom of association were violated because of the disparity between the vote to

As with many issues today, the debate on immigration is mired in partisan opposition instead of pragmatism. At one time, nearly everyone agreed that illegal immigration was a problem, but now one side acts as if it's a "human right" to live anywhere you want while the other suggests anyone here illegally is up to something nefarious. Even where people understand the space between, we have no real solutions that address the disease rather than the symptoms. During the Obama administration, the

Our last election was disappointing, to say the least. I say this not necessarily from one political camp or the other, but because the majority of Americans seem to agree with this sentiment. Those of us voting in the last election mostly voted from necessity, and not from true inspiration for our candidate. We voted from fear of what our opposition might unleash upon our nation, and not on the merits of the candidates. Watching the results — the greedy, indulgent chuckles of Fox News or the

As part of his campaign platform, then-candidate Trump called for a litany of immigration reforms, including his trademark cry for a “beautiful” wall along the US-Mexico border. Trump’s campaign, however, offered little detail on design, or how the wall would function in the rough border terrain. The administration has since revealed several prototypes, but the final plans remain ambiguous and unfunded by lawmakers. Despite Trump’s vague proposal, he will soon use the enigmatic wall as a botto

American voters who have remained in the two-party system are more partisan than ever before and they're saying so in public opinion polls every year: "Surveys over time have used a 100-point thermometer scale to rate how voters feel toward each other, from cold to warm. Democrats and Republicans have been giving lower and lower scores — more cold shoulder — to the opposite party. By 2008, the average rating for members of the other party was barely above 30. That’s significantly worse than how

For many, 2017 was another tumultuous year in US politics, defined once more by the hyper-partisan divide on Capitol Hill and rhetoric in the media. As a result of the continued toxic political environment, millions of Americans are not only dissatisfied with the two-party duopoly, but want more choices in elections and are looking to political leaders who are willing to put voters and country before their party, and challenge partisan group think when it doesn't align with their principles. I

District 5 City Councilman Mark Kersey joined IVN San Diego for our latest podcast to discuss the recent changes made by Council President Myrtle Cole to city council committees, the very public failure to pass a framework for Short Term Rentals, and a look ahead to 2018. Kersey was critical of the moves to replace Republicans from several committee chair positions. He also had pointed remarks of Councilman David Alvarez and the failure of the city council to reach a consensus on regulating Ai