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Last week I traveled to Kansas for an appearance at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. Nestled in the hills of Lawrence (seemingly the only hills in this flattest of states), the Institute building is a striking structure, framing a towering stained glass rendering of the American flag. But for all its modernism, on the path to the main entrance, there is a four-foot stone hitching post from the original Dole ranch. The post is weathered, a clear reminder of t

Voter suppression is a strategy to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing people from voting and is different from political campaigning. Campaigning attempts to change likely voting behavior by changing the opinions of potential voters through persuasion. Voter suppression attempts to reduce the number of voters who might vote against a candidate or proposition through other means, such as legal hurdles or physical intimidation. Although one can argue voter suppre

On the Saturday a week before Mother's Day, I participated in the 34th Annual Harlem Mother's Day Parade. I was there on behalf of the Committee for Independent Community Action (CICA), founded by Dr. Lenora Fulani. The CICA consists of public housing residents, citywide activists, community organizers, and grassroots leaders fighting to protect public housing in New York City from the privatization that threatens to displace hundreds of thousands of public housing residents from their homes.

No one could accuse former CIA Director John Brennan of being a peacenik or too soft on the United States' enemies. The lifelong CIA man (he started with the agency as a Mid-East analyst and station chief for 25 years) has faced criticism for overseeing a substantial increase in CIA drone strikes on targets in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and Afghanistan. When he was nominated to head the CIA in 2013, Senator Rand Paul even stood speaking for 13 hours to filibuster his nomination. In resp

"Ranked choice voting" is gaining momentum in cities and states across the country. The attention it has gotten in places like Maine -- which will be the first state to use it for statewide elections -- has raised its profile as a popular alternative voting method than what is currently used in most jurisdictions in the US. This attention also has many unfamiliar with the election reform asking: How does ranked choice voting work? How RCV Works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYRZsbxGgE Vi

T.J. O’Hara, the host of Deconstructed, is joined by Kyle Bailey, the campaign manager of both Maine’s ranked choice voting and Terry Hayes for Governor. The two discuss the history (and struggle) of ranked choice voting in Maine, the benefits of RCV, Maine’s history with independent and third party candidates, the difference between RCV and plurality voting, and more. Support IVN’s independent podcasts and video series by donated to our co-publisher: www.independentvoterproject.org/. Kyle Ba

There is something happening in Colorado -- something big. It's been a historic year already for independent candidates, and there is arguably no state in the nation where the independent revolution is burning brighter than Colorado. It was one of the first states to fully legalize marijuana (along with Washington state) -- something both major political parties have resisted for decades. Independent voters are the largest voting bloc, with nonpartisan registration surpassing the Republican a

JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon seems poised to attack the rising costs of health care one way or another. In April of this year, Dimon used his annual letter to shareholders to add to what we know about the Amazon, Berkshire & Chase joint healthcare venture. The 247 words about the joint venture comes amongst nineteen pages of public policy. In the other eighteen pages of public policy, Dimon wades into immigration, the national debt, the US relationship with China and infrastructure spending.

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In 2016 the Libertarian Party enjoyed 50-state ballot access for the first time since 1996, and polled higher than any third party had since Ross Perot took the 1992 presidential election by storm on the Reform Party ticket. It was a remarkable year for the LP in its half century history (the Libertarian Party was founded in 1971), during an election year that was remarkable in other ways for the two main political parties. Election year turn out for both Republicans and Democrats were at 20 y