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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 31 directing federal agencies to build a new citizenship-verification system for federal elections and requiring the U.S. Postal Service to begin rulemaking on new standards for mailed ballots.

At the March 25 Democracy Network Exchange meeting, reform advocates confronting 2024 losses on ranked choice voting and other ballot measures pointed to a hard truth: insider language, weak grassroots investment, and abstract messaging are still undermining structural reform campaigns. 

Chad Peace, Cara McCormick, and Shawn Griffiths kick off this episode of the Independent Voter Podcast with a controversial story that put the California governor’s race in the national spotlight. 

Illinois conducted its 2026 primary elections Tuesday, and in some cases the winner advanced to November with around or less than 30% of the vote. In my congressional district, IL-7, State Representative La Shawn Ford won his primary with roughly 24% of the vote.

Open Primaries’ Spokesperson Training has prepared hundreds of independents to share their stories. The next training is May 18. Here’s why it matters—and why you should apply.

Fetterman has pointed out that voter ID is an "80-20 issue," citing an August 2025 Pew Research survey that found 83% of American voters support or are okay with requiring photo ID to vote.

Last week, the Oklahoma campaign to put a nonpartisan all-voter and all-candidate nonpartisan primary initiative on the ballot was informed that it did not collect enough signatures to be certified. This means state voters won’t get a say on the matter in 2026.

When threat levels are at their highest due to the situation in Iran, President Trump ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at 1:40 p.m. March 5 in a Truth Social post and named Republican U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as her replacement. 

On February 27, 2026, the better elections group Open Primaries released a sweeping public statement titled Declaration of Independents, framing the exclusion of independent voters from critical taxpayer-funded elections as the unfinished business of 1776.

In his 2026 State of the State address, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced that he plans to call a special state legislative session in the Spring to put an end to partisan gerrymandering “once and for all.” And he will keep calling lawmakers into session until happens.