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The Naples Daily News Editorial Board penned a piece earlier this month condemning the widespread practice of “phantom candidacies,” which play an unfortunate role of shutting too many voters out of the elections process. What are phantom candidates? Simply put, they are write-in candidates who file in local elections throughout Florida where only members of a single party are running in the race, but they don’t actively campaign. They don’t raise money. They don’t put up yard signs. They do

FairVote released the results of a new SurveyUSA poll Wednesday that found that Maine Republicans in the state’s second congressional district plan to reap the benefits of ranked choice voting in the party’s primary, despite opposition. “Maine Republicans in the state's second congressional district favor former state legislator Dale Crafts over former gubernatorial spokesperson Adrienne Bennett in a tight ranked choice voting contest, with the GOP’s 2018 U.S. Senate nominee Eric Brakey traili

2020 is already a year to remember – a world-wide pandemic, militant Black-led protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer, and a presidential election. It is fair to ask what the election has to do with the other two. Will it bring anything more than efforts by both major parties and their less than inspiring candidates to use these devastating events to their advantage? Those who call themselves reformers cannot ignore this question. At a minimum, we n

There is a good deal of mention of the Constitution on social media these days; frequently, in short, declarative sentences that express with certainty what the document means. Oftentimes these comments are directed at the Supreme Court, accusing a justice or justices of willfully violating the obligation to impartially interpret and administer the law. Although both liberals and conservatives have engaged in this sport, conservatives do it a lot more, in part because of a legal theory called “T

Most people know the story: Moments after the Constitutional Convention ended in 1787, Ben Franklin walked out of Independent Hall and was approached by a woman. The woman asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a monarchy or a republic?” Franklin replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” The account is quoted everywhere from the classroom to the Halls of Congress. The message is simple: A form of government that is responsive to the people can be easily lost if the people become complacent

This is a horrific time for our country and a time of deep reflection for me. As a child of the 60’s, it is almost incomprehensible to fathom that we are experiencing a moment that is eerily similar to what I lived through fifty year ago on May 4, 1970. In recent weeks, the brutal murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, in addition to so many others, have shaken our nation to the core. These tragic circumstances make it clear, yet again, that systemic discriminati

As the fight continues across the country to expand safe and secure options for voters to participate in the 2020 elections, 5 nonpartisan organizations collaborated to put on a virtual rally to bolster the cause. March On announced “Vote Safe 2020 Live” on Monday, June 22, which the group calls a “virtual movement to protect the vote this November.” The event was hosted in collaboration with the National Vote at Home Institute, HeadCount, Future Coalition, and The Andrew Goodman Foundation.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum, and was republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. Straight-ticket voting won't be returning to Texas now that a federal judge has rejected an effort by Democrats to maintain the practice. Allowing Texans to cast one quick vote, in favor of one party's entire slate of candidates, has been allowed for a century and was the way two-thirds of 2018 ballots were cast in the second most populous state. But the Republican-maj

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum, and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. ‍ Progressive groups may use the courts to pursue even more wide-open absentee balloting in Missouri this year. At issue is a new law, enacted this month in response to the coronavirus pandemic, suspending the state's usually strict excuse rules for voting by mail — but requiring a notary's signature on August primary and November presidential election ballot env

It was brought to the attention of the IVN editorial team that Facebook had labeled a recent quote posted on the IVN Page from US President Abraham Lincoln as “false information.” The fact check bewildered us given the nature of the quote and to whom it was attributed. Independent Voter News has for a decade been an open platform for hundreds of independent authors from across the ideological and political spectrums. It remains, to the best of our knowledge, the only open platform for journalis