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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

We have devoted the 24-hour news cycle to a single word -- "shithole." That is where we are at in the media and the national narrative in 2018. The story erupted after it was reported that President Donald Trump used the word "shithole" to describe Haiti and African nations when discussing US immigration policy with members of Congress Thursday. And the mainstream media jumped all over it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrynNeqx48I Video Source: Washington Post Trump denied saying anything

Living anywhere outside the northern parts of the country means one probably does not know what the bone-chilling, bitter cold of negative-degree temperatures and wind chill feel like. It bites. It blisters. It feels like nothing people outside these regions have ever experienced before. As I describe this, one might wonder why anyone would voluntarily want to be out in such weather. Well, for volunteers with the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting in Maine, defending voters' rights is worth it

Update: It's being reported that Congressman Issa could fill the void left by Congressman Duncan Hunter Jr. in the 50th Congressional District, should a grand jury file criminal charges against Hunter. Issa serves the 49th district, which neighbors the 50th. A Congressman can switch districts as long as they live in the state where that district resides. "I worked hard and never lost sight of the people our government is supposed to serve. Yet with the support of my family, I have decided that

The newspaper headline caught my eye. For 15 years, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) illegally hired physicians and surgeons with revoked licenses and malpractice convictions. As an organizational psychologist and former political candidate, I often described the need to transform the VA and how veteran suicide reflects national questions about war and peace-building. With Steve Sanson, president of Veterans in Politics, International, I co-wrote an article about vets in prison

The holidays are over and it’s back to reality. Of course, part of that reality — for better or worse — if that the politicians have made their way back to Washington, DC. To be clear, I am not suggesting that the politicians’ reality is the same as ours. That’s a big part of the problem. First, it should be noted that most of the significant items on the agenda for Congress as they return to “work” are items that they failed to deal with LAST year. You will recall that, after knowing for mon

1. The two-party system came into existence at a time when people were still writing on paper with feathers dipped in ink. 2. And partisanship is as antiquated as that practice because we have better ways of accomplishing the same purpose. 3. Parties were invented because it was impossible in the late 1700s to have all the facts about a candidate for public office, so people relied on their party for direction about who to vote for. 4. We no longer need parties for this purpose in the age of

If you are like me, you have had enough of just about everything that America’s current political system represents, such as institutionalized and legalized corruption, nepotism, and ‘career’ politicians. Both the Democrats and Republicans are guilty of perpetuating a terribly broken system, and neither of them appear to be interested in changing the way things are done in Washington. Whether Obama’s “Hope and Change” or Trump’s “Drain the Swamp” – the result has been more of the same way of d

Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul is no stranger to election reform. He has championed a number of legislative efforts to improve elections in the past, and has introduced a new package of election reforms for the upcoming legislative session. Rasoul has served in the Virginia House of Delegates since January 2014, and represents the 11th District, which makes up a part of Roanoke. He is the only Muslim member of the Virginia General Assembly. His latest proposed reforms include the creation of a n

T.J. O'Hara is joined by Josh Silver. Josh is a veteran election and media reform executive. He was the campaign manager for the successful 1998 Arizona Clean Elections ballot initiative, and is the co-founder and former CEO of Free Press, a leading media and technology reform advocacy organization. Silver has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal and featured in outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Newsweek, NPR, and CBS Sunday Morning. The two discuss the gro