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A new survey from the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation (PPC) shows that most Americans favor using ranked choice voting in federal elections with three or more candidates. According to the results, 61% said they favor the alternative voting method’s use, including 73% of Democrats and 55% of independents. Republicans surveyed were divided, with 49% in favor and 50% opposed. The survey of nearly 1,300 registered voters was conducted between July 13 and September 15, 2021.

An Anne Arundel County judge in Maryland tossed new congressional maps passed by the state’s General Assembly Friday, ruling that they violate the state’s constitution. The judge further ordered that new maps be drawn and approved by the legislative body. “The 2021 Congressional Plan is unconstitutional and subverts the will of those governed,” writes Judge Lynne Battaglia. “As a result, the court will enter a declaratory judgment in favor of the Plaintiffs ... and giving the General Assembly

On September 6, 2021, Alan Braid, a seventy-six-year-old OBGYN in San Antonio, Texas, performed an abortion on a woman in her first trimester. A few years ago, this procedure would have attracted little attention. This time, however, Dr. Braid became a national headline. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, he wrote, “I acted because I had a duty of care to this patient, as I do for all patients, and because she has a fundamental right to receive this care.” What made Dr. Braid’s decision notew

It’s January 2021, there’s a new president in D.C., a new Senate majority and a Democratic majority crowing about how voting rights is their top priority, even making the For the People Act their first bill (H.R. 1 in the House and S. 1 in the Senate). Cut to nine months later. It’s now September 2021. President Biden has spent more time focusing on an Afghanistan withdrawal than on pressuring Congress to pass voting rights legislation. The For the People Act has been passed by the House of Re

Within a year from now, Maryland voters will head to the polls to elect their party candidates for the 2022 elections. While voters from the Democratic, Republican, and other third parties will choose their candidates in the primary, independent voters will not be able to choose the candidates they want. This is because, in Maryland, independents are not allowed to vote during the primary. In the last decade, independent voters in Maryland have increased in voter registration, yet still don’t h

The United States has never seemed more divided. The political landscape seems like a perpetual powder keg -- one spark will ignite the flames and consume the nation. Some have even suggested that the country could be on the verge of another civil war. This is, at least, how the press and the major players of the political process want people to view America. But are the people of the United States really this divided? Are we really a breath away from chaos across the country? The short answ

What is the duopoly? On the surface this may seem like a common sense question: We have a political system dominated by two major parties. Hence, we have a duopoly. That simple, right?  Yet, the reasons we have a two-party duopoly in the US are far more nuanced. The Republican and Democratic Parties win nearly every partisan electoral contest in the US. But, this is not the reason for the duopoly, but a symptom of it, and unfortunately the damaging effects the duopoly has had on the political

Gov. Larry Hogan is making one last effort to stymie partisan gerrymandering in Maryland before the next decade's election maps are drawn.

Editor's Note: This article originally published on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher. ‍ Gov. Larry Hogan is making one last effort to stymie partisan gerrymandering in Maryland before the next decade's election maps are drawn. The Republican governor announced this week the creation of the state's first-ever citizen-led redistricting commission to draft new congressional and state legislative maps. But final approval will ultimately be up to the

Election integrity became a hot button issue during and in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. It is a phrase voters have heard a lot since November 3, as Donald Trump and many of his supporters claim widespread fraud took place that denied him re-election. Lawmakers and advocates who stood by the president and vowed to challenge the election results said they were doing it for the sake of the integrity of the electoral process. Challenging the legitimacy of elections is becoming more