On March 28, the ranked choice voting advocacy group, Rank MI Vote was kicked out of the Michigan Republican Party Convention. Reports say one Republican state lawmaker called volunteers “communists” and even threatened physical violence.
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.
The No Labels Party in Arizona cannot change its name to the Arizona Independent Party. This is the decision from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gregory Como, who called it a “political bait-and-switch.”
The city of Los Angeles will hold a primary election on June 2nd in which fourteen people are running for mayor, including a sitting councilmember, a sitting mayor, and a former reality television personality.
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.
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.
Most Americans support voter ID, so why is this fight so explosive? It’s simple: the two-party system keeps turning a broadly popular reform into a partisan weapon. Instead of solving the issue, both sides use it to energize their base and deepen distrust.
State Senator Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) and Representative Clinton Anderson (D-Beloit) introduced LRB-5709 on March 5, legislation that would implement ranked choice voting for state, federal, and local elections in Wisconsin.
James Talarico wins Texas’ Democratic Senate primary as campaigns point to unusually high independent participation in the state’s open primary system. Then Dallas County’s last-minute switch back to precinct-only voting sparks confusion, long lines, and a legal fight over ballots cast after 7 p.m.
The answer to today’s crowded field is not retreat. It is modernization. Instead of empowering party gatekeepers, we can empower voters with more choice, less vote splitting, and majority-supported outcomes.
As February wrapped up, it was reported that President Donald Trump had nominated two Republicans for the Federal Elections Commission after 10 months of the agency being unable to perform its basic functions.
Tune in for our independent breakdown of Trump’s record-length 2026 State of the Union: voter ID + proof of citizenship, immigration rhetoric, affordability vs “winning” messaging, a rare bipartisan beat on banning stock trading, and the moment the chamber unified around a Coast Guard rescue.
Shawn Griffiths
Cara Brown McCormick
Independent Voter Podcast
John E Palmer