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The Maine Republican Party filed a complaint against Secretary of State Matt Dunlap Friday, asking the court to find ranked choice voting unconstitutional on the grounds that it is their right to decide how many of their primary voters actually matter. It is yet another development in the ongoing efforts by the political establishment to defy the election reform before the June 12 primary. In short, the Republican Party in Maine implemented a rule that says party nominees will be selected by a

The people of South Carolina in 2014 certified for the ballot possibly one of the most effective independent parties in the nation in 2014. Since being certified, the American Party has fielded slates of candidates in two general elections and one special election. AP candidates have run for both federal and state offices and have garnered nearly 200,000 SC votes - about ten percent of the turnout for the 2016 election. At this year’s American Party state convention on May 12th, prospective can

Editor's note: this article was co-authored by Cathy Stewart (introduction) and Caroline Donnola (main article). The Politics for the People (P4P) Book Club brings together independent-minded Americans to read a wide range of books—both fiction and non-fiction—of interest to independents.  With each selection, we have a lively dialogue on the P4P blog culminating in an hour conference call conversation with our author. We just finished reading Greg Orman’s book, A Declaration of Independents:

In an op-ed for the Bangor Daily News, Ned White rightly points out the future of ranked choice voting (RCV) is once again in the hands of voters. After 52 percent of Maine voters supported the implementation of RCV in 2016, the Maine legislature passed a law to delay the implementation until 2022. In response, RCV supporters gathered more than 70,000 signatures for a ‘People’s Veto,’ which prevents the delay and places RCV once again on the ballot. On June 12, voters will be asked if they rej

Americans are angry about the apathetic approach to our online data security by our state and federal governments, as well as tech giants. Repeatedly our data is compromised. The thieves are sometimes hackers, hell-bent on creating false identities or worse, and sometimes the culprits are big businesses making a buck off the personal preferences we offer up for free. I sat down with Morgan Wright, a cyber-security expert,  to get his perspective on what the near future may hold for our data sec

Just two weeks before Earth Day, President Trump announced his plan to launch a missile strike against Syria, stoking the flames of the War on Terror. Following the strike, Trump tweeted “Mission Accomplished,” a proclamation that sounds eerily familiar. Here we go again. The past 3 years have experienced a surge of political activism from all sides. However, it is concerning that there is little support for antiwar efforts. The Nationwide Solidarity March for Peace, which occurred last Octobe

Electoral reform includes any reforms to the electoral and political systems that make lawmakers more accountable to the people who elect them. The purpose of election reform is to improve voter opportunities and create better choices at the ballot box, giving better representation to everyone.

If 2016 taught me anything, it is how disastrous political polls have become. And as we head into the 2018 midterms, we should take a hard look how we are conducting them, crunching the numbers and using the results. Voters deserve it. On November 2nd, 2016 Marquette University Law School in Wisconsin issued it’s highly regarded presidential polling results. It was memorable for two reasons. The first reason is that it was conducted between October 26th through the 31st, the time frame in which

As independent voters, we’re all about ensuring that power resides with “the people,” but what does that mean?  Can “the people” have too much power in a representative, constitutional democracy? Recent developments in Maine and Utah this week (discussed below) have me thinking about this. I’m also asking this question because here in New Hampshire, as in many other states, voters don’t have the right to adopt or repeal laws by initiative or referendum.  When it comes to enacting the types of

A new report by the California Association of Realtors released Tuesday notes the median price of a home in San Diego County reached a record $625,400 in March. The reason for the spike according to experts, a lack of inventory. A typical home is on the market only 13 days before being sold, compared to a statewide average of 23 days. The news comes as the San Diego City Council’s Smart Growth and Land Use Committee is hosting a workshop Wednesday. Committee Chairwoman Georgette Gomez will lea