It’s crunch month for California legislators who promised sweeping reforms in response to the police killing of George Floyd and the protests his death unleashed.

Yet some social justice advocates doubt that politicians’ stomachs for change are as strong as their rhetoric: A Senate bill to excommunicate corrupt or misbehaving cops may be denied a floor vote, while another measure to involve the attorney general in certain deadly force investigations is gaining new opposition from those who say it won’t do much if signed into law.

Independent voters choose not to affiliate with a party for many reasons. I would say the common ground for registering as an independent voter is a frustration with party politics and dogma, and a sense that internal party politics and power structures are more important for many partisans than coalition building and advancing overwhelming popular public policy solutions where they exist. I have been registered as both an independent and a Democrat in the last five years.

This is an independent opinion. Want to respond? Write your own commentary! Email hoa@ivn.us.

The US Senate race in Maine is expected to be highly contested as Democrats seek to unseat Republican Susan Collins. However, before voters make a decision, they will have an opportunity to hear from all 4 candidates running in the race.

North Dakota Voters First has announced that their comprehensive better elections amendment that addresses elections security, voter choice, and gerrymandering all in one reform package has been certified for the November ballot.

This is an independent opinion. Want to respond? Write your own commentary! Email hoa@ivn.us.

The election shenanigans surrounding Kanye West should be the poster-child for our need to fix an easily-manipulated and broken voting system. 

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on The Fulcrum and has been republished on IVN with permission from the publisher.

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The Postal Service is warning the two biggest Midwest presidential battlegrounds, Pennsylvania and Michigan, that much of their election mail won't get delivered on time because the states' absentee ballot deadlines are too tight.

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On one night in San Diego, volunteers were writing postcards to voters and wondering if they would be delivered in time by the U.S. Postal Service. Parents were trying to catch up on unfinished work, knowing that keeping up will be harder when remote school starts at the end of the month. Others worried about the end of the month because that is when rent is due, and there is no relief in sight. 

Allen Chan is a fixture in the Convoy District. In fact, it would be difficult to tell any story about this Pan-Asian community without talking to Chan, a judicious figure who stands out among the hundreds of business owners in the area.