Opinion

Independent authors cover the political spectrum and perspectives. Authors share their opinion on a wide range of topics on local, state, and national issues. Articles in this category express the opinions of our contributors, not IVN as a whole.

California’s Top-Two Primary Has a Plurality Problem—And It's Easy to Fix

The good news is that the fix does not require a constitutional amendment but instead by a simple statute.

Eveline Dowling

/ June 17, 2026

California Capitol Building. Making California's Top-Two system better wouldn't require a constitutional amendment, but a legislative statute.

Don't Scrap Top-Two. Fix Its Strategic Voting Problem.

The sky didn't fall. The dreaded two-Republican scenario never materialized. Once again, Democratic fears of a top-two disaster proved unfounded.

John E Palmer

/ June 16, 2026

California voter headed into a polling location to vote in the June 2 Top Two primary.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Steve Peace

/ May 11, 2026

Supreme Court building. Supreme Court redistricting decision.

Congress Left Town; The Coast Guard Went to War Without a Paycheck

Many Americans may not realize that during peacetime, the U.S. Coast Guard operates as part of the Department of Homeland Security and is funded by it, not the Department of Defense.

Cara Brown McCormick

/ April 12, 2026

Congress Left Town; The Coast Guard Went to War Without a Paycheck

Why We Call Ourselves Independent Voter News

For 15 years, we have published more than 14,000 articles written by people from different walks of life, different parts of the country, and different political backgrounds.

IVN Editorial Board

/ April 1, 2026

Why We Call Ourselves Independent Voter News

Trump to Noem: You're Fired

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.

Cara Brown McCormick

/ March 5, 2026

Why Neither Side Wants the Truth About Voter ID

Voter ID is treated like a five-alarm fire in American politics. That reaction says more about our dysfunctional political system than it does about voter ID itself.

Steve Peace

/ February 6, 2026

Why Neither Side Wants the Truth About Voter ID

How the Republicans' FCC Rules Will Make Partisanship Even Worse

Picture a partisan political federal referee standing just offstage of the iconic Saturday Night Live set, just before it's taping before a live audience at 8pm, stopwatch in hand, deciding who belongs in the political conversation and who does not.

Cara Brown McCormick

/ January 29, 2026

How the Republicans' FCC Rules Will Make Partisanship Even Worse

Gallup: Independent Voters Hit 45% – So Why Does the Political Establishment Keep Pretending They Don’t Matter?

Gallup released its latest identification numbers, and independent voters are now 45%. Nobody disputes the data. But there are competing opinions as to what the data means.

By John Opdycke and Paul Rieckhoff

/ January 28, 2026

Gallup: Independent Voters Hit 45% – So Why Does the Political Establishment Keep Pretending They Don’t Matter?