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FairVote and The Center for Competitive Democracy (The Center) have filed an amici curiae brief with the Supreme Court in a case that challenges the constitutionality of New Jersey's closed primary system. A coalition of 7 individual plaintiffs and nonpartisan organizations, including the Independent Voter Project (a co-publisher of IVN.us), filed a petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in July, arguing that the current election system in New Jersey gives the Republican an

We have been conditioned to think that regular folks shouldn't run for office. That's just plain wrong. When the Framers of the Constitution designed the checks and balances of our nation, Congress, the legislative branch, offered the most protections for the people of the United States. As the Framers felt that Congress was the most important, they dealt with it first. Article I of the Constitution outlines the functions and functionality of the U.S. House and the Senate. Congress was design

If the party system collapsed overnight, would we really have better candidates? Suppose closed primaries were all opened—a long-term goal currently pursued by the Independent Voter Project, The Centrist Project, and numerous others, currently gaining real traction. Suppose America’s ideological constipation were suddenly relieved, breaking out of the notional Conservative-Republican, Liberal-Democrat litmus test that uses single issues to glue politicians to broad platforms. Would we get bet

The nonpartisan or "top-two" primary in California is working and the Golden State has more competitive elections, has increased voter access and a better functioning legislature. Those are the key findings released today in a report from called A Quiet Revolution: The Early Success of California’s Top Two Nonpartisan Primary from Open Primaries. The authors of the report are Jason Olson, the president of Independentvoice.org, a San Francisco based organization of independent voters and Dr. Oma

The early successes of California's nonpartisan, top-two primary are paving the way toward increased voter representation and decreased partisan gridlock. What this means for all voters is that they finally have a voice when it comes to deciding their representatives, who are supposed to put their constituents before party interests or re-election goals. Open Primaries released findings Tuesday articulating the benefits the nonpartisan, top-two primary -- authored by the Independent Voter Proje

Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico and potential 2016 Libertarian presidential candidate, discussed the current lawsuit challenging the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) in an exclusive interview for IVN. Among the plaintiffs in the suit, which concerns violations by the CPD and the Federal Election Commission, are the Green Party and the Libertarian National Committee. The purpose of the suit is to change the rules that obstruct third party candidates from participating in pres

As a boatload of candidates eye the White House for 2016, one issue the hopefuls won't be able to escape is immigration policy. The issue will be one of the key talking points on the campaign trail, and provides a clear demarcation between the two established parties, said Marc Rosenblum, deputy director of the U.S. immigration policy program at the Migration Policy Institute. "Democrats are eager to pay attention to the issue because they think it helps them with Hispanic and Asian voters," R

As Bob Conner reported for IVN in 2014, New Jersey’s independents spent approximately $100 million to pay for primaries in which they could not vote between 2000 and 2013. The obvious question is, how did this come to be? How did taxpayers come to subsidize party primaries? The origin of government-administered primaries begins in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when state governments began to intervene to curb the influence of party bosses and tackle corruption. A series of reforms – including

Only one in three eligible voters cast a ballot in the 2014 general election to elect all the statewide offices, congressional representatives and approve initiatives, a record low. But, for two of California's fastest growing groups, the numbers are even more troubling. "Everyone was quite shocked about that and, of course, very concerned, but we wanted to know with that low of a turnout, what groups that vote even lower -- what did they do in this record low context, or how low was their turn

CALIFORNIA -- In an interview for IVN, Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown of California's 47th district explained that the nonpartisan, top-two open primary system "requires candidates to build broad local coalitions." Brown is among the confirmed panelists who will speak at a series of discussions on voting rights, nonpartisan primaries, and the future of elections, hosted by the Independent Voter Project and California Forward on August 19 in Sacramento. Assemblywoman Brown was first elected to the C