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The 2026 midterm election cycle is quickly approaching. However, there is a lingering question mark over what congressional maps will look like when voters start to cast their ballots, especially as Republicans and Democrats fight to obtain any electoral advantage possible. 

Gerrymandering has long eroded the competitiveness, representativeness, and accountability of our democracy. But in recent years, the problem has entered a dangerous phase — one in which both parties see no option but to fight with every weapon they can find.

Ahead of the November 4 special election in California, it was easy to predict the success of a legislative gerrymander under Prop 50. When the measure was projected to be victorious the second polls closed, it didn’t surprise anyone.

Zohran Mamdani’s name appeared twice on the New York City mayoral ballot?! No voter ID?! Eric Adams appeared on the ballot despite dropping out?! Andrew Cuomo’s name appeared last?! An election rigged against Cuomo?!

The special election for California Prop 50 wraps up November 4 and recent polling shows the odds strongly favor its passage. The measure suspends the state’s independent congressional map for a legislative gerrymander that Princeton grades as one of the worst in the nation.

The latest Independent Voter Podcast episode takes listeners through the messy intersections of politics, reform, and public perception. Chad and Cara open with the irony of partisan outrage over trivial issues like a White House ballroom while overlooking the deeper dysfunctions in our democracy. From California to Maine, they unpack how the very words on a ballot can tilt entire elections and how both major parties manipulate language and process to maintain power.

When Missouri voters legalized cannabis, it became one of the fastest-growing regulated industries in the country. But in just a few short years, that success is being threatened by a shadow marke ...

The U.S. has entered Day 22 of the latest government shutdown with no end in sight. As pundits expect it to surpass the 35-day record set during Trump’s first term, a new Gallup poll shows voters’ approval of Congress has plummeted in the last month. Yet, for congressional leaders, there isn’t any urgency to re-open the government. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries trade jabs back and forth in the media, but the blame game continues to be prioritized over solutions.

Going into 2025, there were few people who expected a statewide ballot measure election in California to become the sixth most expensive in state history in a year with no other statewide race on the ballot – but here we are with Prop 50, which asks voters to approve a legislative gerrymander.

From California, where independent redistricting commissioner J. Ray Kennedy, a Democrat, describes how state leaders effectively sidelined the nonpartisan commission, to Texas, where the Republican Party is suing to close one of the nation’s oldest open primary systems, the hosts trace a pattern of partisan agenda-setting that transcends geography and time.