Search query: california

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla published the latest voter registration numbers on Monday, March 11. Secretary Padilla touted record-setting registration of over 20 million people, nearly 30% of which are registered No Party Preference (i.e. independent). The latest registration numbers, dated for February 10, show that NPP voters now comprise 28.26% of the registered voting population, an increase of 226,058 voters from the last registration report dated October 22, 2018. Meanwhile

I’ve been practicing law for almost 50 years. And I am still surprised when a court lets you know that the road you want to take is blocked. You may have the best arguments in the world, your client’s cause may be just, but you aren’t going to get there. This is what happened recently in New Mexico where I was part of a team of lawyers put together by the Open Primary Education Fund. We challenged the state’s closed primary system on the grounds that the funding of a primary election that barre

San Diego, Calif.- Independent Voter Network has learned Senator Ben Hueso will not be bringing  SB-615 to the floor in Sacramento for consideration. SB-615 was crafted by San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott. It's a proposal that critics say, makes it much harder to sue agencies that fail to comply with the Public Records Act. Elliott's office released the following statement: "I believe our elected leaders have an obligation to tackle tough issues and advance thoughtful solutions to the ser

All Voters Vote (AVV) launched an initiative to allow all voters access to taxpayer-funded primary elections in Florida. State law currently bars approximately 3.5 million registered voters from participating in what is often the most crucial stage of the election process because they refuse to register with a party. The group is submitting two petitions for review: BALLOT TITLE BALLOT SUMMARY BALLOT TITLE BALLOT SUMMARY AVV is proposing nonpartisan primaries similar to the primary electio

San Diego, Calif.- San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott has created government transparency concerns with her drafting of Senate Bill 615. Elliott says her bill is a win-win for transparency and the taxpayers: "Ensuring the public’s access to information is critical, yet in recent years, the City of San Diego, and public agencies statewide, have struggled to keep up with a widening avalanche of Public Records Act requests," Elliott noted. SB 615 would require public agencies and record-seeker

Last week, I joined a conference call with a dozen independent voter activists from around the country – all cabinet members of the “Eyes on 2020” campaign sponsored by Independent Voting, who are making a simple demand: Independents want full access to every stage of the 2020 presidential election process in every state. A recap of activities over the last several weeks was varied and impressive, touching on the many different ways independents are working on what is a civil rights campaign fo

If all sides are declaring victory in the California Supreme Court’s pension ruling on Monday, it’s because the decision had a little something for all the combatants in the state’s pension wars. In a much-anticipated decision, the high court upheld a major rollback initiated during Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration—a reform that rescinded a long tradition that had allowed public employees to collect bigger pensions by inflating their years of service. Brown put an end to that tradition—known i

The following piece was co-written by Independent Voting President Jacqueline Salit and Independent Voter Project Attorney Chad Peace, in remembrance of the late Patrick Cadell. Caddell was a broadly-respected political pollster and pundit. He served as a consultant for President Jimmy Carter and other presidential candidates, including drafting a strategy memo for independent Ross Perot in 1992, and appeared regularly as an on-air commentator for Fox News. Caddell passed away on February 16 aft

As a business owner and lifelong resident of Michigan, I am proud to have stood with so many of my fellow citizens soliciting signatures for days and weeks on end to get the “Nonpartisan Redistricting” and “Promote the Vote” initiatives on the ballot and successfully passed in the 2018 midterm election. They were a big win for Michigan democracy and important steps on a journey to a more representative government. Yet, there remains a large obstruction in our path to achieving a healthy, functi

NOTE: This op-ed was submitted to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Worcester Telegram, Commonwealth Magazine, and the Montreal Gazette (a slightly expanded version tied to Jackie’s debut with the Royals in ‘46). Too bad, really. It would have been nice for readers of any of the above publications to know that the greatest athlete and perhaps the most important African-American in our history, would have been 100 today. Rejections are irritating, but I’m reminded of how angry the late Senator E