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A new lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Open Primaries Education Fund along with the law firm, Angor, Rapaport, & Skainy (DATRS), asserts that Maryland is violating its own constitution and the voting rights of nearly 1 million independent voters in the state by denying them access to taxpayer-funded primary elections.

A lot of people are talking about democracy reform in New York City, especially since the implementation of ranked choice voting. But while ranked choice voting in party primaries is novel, let’s be honest: it’s not “small-d” democratic. The fact is, the general election still uses a plurality voting system, which means candidates don’t need to win a majority, they just need more votes than anyone else.

Have you ever wondered why, in the greatest democracy in the world, almost no one runs for President of the United States as an independent? The answer is that running as an independent is extremely difficult, if not impossible. That is why very few people have attempted it, and none have won in modern history. 

A new party launched Tuesday in New Mexico following the passage of open primaries legislation in the state. The Forward Party, which advocates for reforms like open primaries, is seeking 3,500 signatures to gain minor party status.

California’s legal cannabis industry, long weighed down by high taxes and regulation, is facing new threats: steep federal tariffs on key imports and a proposed statewide ban on disposable vapes.

Litigation is often seen as a zero-sum game of wins and losses. In that lens, a recent 11th Circuit decision that upholds Florida’s closed primary system has been declared another win for political parties and closed primaries. But it’s the wrong framing.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey made history with a marathon speech on the Senate floor, surpassing 24 hours in a sweeping protest against the policies of former President Donald Trump.

Mayors of big cities across the country are coming out in support of ranked choice voting (RCV). RCV is currently used in 46 U.S. cities, including the most populous cities in seven states.

In 2024, Gallup found for the first time in the history of its polling that more than half of the electorate identified as independent. The biggest driver of this political shift are young voters, who enter voting age more independent than the generation before them.

Exit polling from Edison Research shows that self-identified independents made up a larger share of the 2024 vote -- but with independent ID reaching a majority of the electorate, this bloc has yet to fully make its presence felt in presidential elections.