Commentary - Independent Voter News

The Plan to Strip 6.9 Million Californians of Voting Rights Could Haunt Politicians

Undoing Top Two means telling 6.9 million independent voters they may no longer participate in primary elections unless they sign up with a club they have already decided not to join.

By

Steve Peace

/ June 24, 2026

A picture of Bill Cavala, filled out by IVN staff to fit the necessary dimensions of a featured article image.

Mike Duggan’s Exit Exposes the Independent Movement’s Biggest Blind Spot

Duggan's campaign showed that independent politics will continue to struggle as long as it keeps swinging for the fences instead of figuring out how to get on base.

By

Dennis Darnoi

/ June 16, 2026

Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaking at an event.

Fraud May Very Well Be Happening in California. But You Can't Prove It. Here's Why.

California has built a system so structurally vulnerable to fraud that even if massive fraud were occurring, you couldn't prove it.

By

Steve Peace

/ June 12, 2026

Fraud May Very Well Be Happening in California. But You Can't Prove It. Here's Why.

It Wasn't Fraud. It's Steyer $$$$.

The conspiracy theory is that California cheated. The reality is that Top Two forced Democrats to fight each other in public.

By

Cara Brown McCormick

/ June 9, 2026

Maine's Best Political Story Has Nothing to Do with Graham Platner's Sexting

All the attention is on Graham Platner's scandals, but something is happening in Maine that is unheard of in the rest of the country, and it is because of the state's use of ranked choice voting. Not all candidates are at each other's throats.

By

Cara Brown McCormick

/ June 8, 2026

Maine's Best Political Story Has Nothing to Do with Graham Platner's Sexting

An Open Letter to My Fellow Secretary of State Candidates: Where Is Our Debate About Democracy?

With our country’s democracy in severe crisis, incredibly, there are no secretary of state candidate forums nor debates scheduled between us.

By

Michael Feinstein

/ May 29, 2026

Image of ballots going into a box, representing democracy and the debate over election reform.

The DNC Wrote a 2024 Autopsy — and Ignored the Cause of Death

The most glaring failure isn't what the report got wrong—it's in what it doesn't address at all: independent voters.

By

Matt Shinners

/ May 22, 2026

DNC headquarters. The DNC released its 2024 autopsy of what went wrong, but didn't address the actual reasons the party lost.

CADEM Chair Supports Repealing Top Two. Here's What He's Not Telling Voters.

This week, the Democratic Party chair chose to abandon more than 5 million independent voters in California to embrace a regressive proposal to roll back voter rights.

By

Steve Peace

/ May 19, 2026

California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks

A Top-Two Democrat Race for Governor? In California, That May Be What a Healthy Democracy Actually Looks Like

The state’s nonpartisan Top-Two primary was never designed to produce a Democrat vs. Republican Race or to prevent two Democrats or two Republicans from being in the final contest.

By

Steve Peace and Dan Howle

/ May 19, 2026

A potential two-Democrat California governor's race has some people concerned, but what if this is what voters want?

The Real Losers in Virginia, SCOTUS Redistricting Decisions are “Progressives” and Trump

In all the drama on redistricting people are overlooking what the courts actually did: They made life miserable for extremists.

By

Steve Peace

/ May 11, 2026

Supreme Court building. Supreme Court redistricting decision.

NYC Shuts Out Half Its Voters. The Forward Party Supports a New Bill to Change That.

The polarization we see in our politics is not a mystery. It is the predictable output of a system designed to produce it. Nothing meaningful can change until we fix the structure that keeps producing these outcomes.

By

Susan DiVito

/ May 8, 2026

A New York City bill would end party control over elections and level the playing field for independent voters.

We Can Tax Billionaires and Be Smart About It

A wealth tax isn't the best idea. Capital gains reform makes much more sense.

By

Cara Brown McCormick

/ April 22, 2026

We Can Tax Billionaires and Be Smart About It