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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Ohio will provide updates starting election night on the number of absentee ballots that haven't arrived to be counted. It's an apparent first, especially in a battleground state, that good-government experts are hailing as a smart way to help the public through the unique rhythm of this election.

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

In San Diego, our homeless students are facing great challenges. In addition to finding a safe and secure place to live, they are navigating through a deadly pandemic and protests for social justice. 

"The Extra Point with Jeff Marston" is aired weekly on Mightier 1090 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday. In this episode, Marston talks to former California lawmaker Steve Peace about SDSU West, IVN San Diego columnist Ron Donoho about San Diego homeless choir, Voices of Our City, and more.

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With Labor Day in the rearview mirror, campaigns across the country are ramping up their activities the best they can in the final eight weeks of a pandemic-affected election. This includes several campaigns that look to expand the historic momentum behind nonpartisan election reform.

This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Write it! Email it to hoa@ivn.us.

I remember Rob's, my husband, first fire. We were married four years at the time and his first fire, the Poinsettia Fire, turned out to be a learning experience for both of us.

Thanks to our region’s balmy climate, San Diego’s restaurants are weathering the COVID-19 economic downturn by moving their diners outdoors. Cheered on by Mayor Kevin Faulconer and members of the San Diego City Council, restaurants have transformed busy sidewalks and streets into convivial, social-distancing-compliant outdoor dining spaces where San Diego residents and visitors are welcome to gather for meals, company and conversation.

Tracy Tran’s years of savings are gone. Most went into the nearly $13,500 monthly rent she says she’s been paying for her shuttered business since March, when coronavirus public health orders forced her to close. La Orquidea Salon and Spa has been sitting empty ever since on busy North Santa Cruz Ave, Los Gatos. So have most of the state’s roughly 11,000 other nail salons.

Joe Collins is T.J. O’Hara’s guest on "Deconstructed." Mr. Collins spent 13 years in the United States Navy and served with distinction in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has a strong sense of duty, commitment, and leadership and is running for a seat in the United States Congress. He must also like combat because he is running as a Republican in California, and he is taking on an incumbent by the name of Maxine Waters.

This is an independent opinion. Have one of your own? Write it! Email it to hoa@ivn.us.

Home Box Office released a documentary this summer called “The Swamp.” I’ve had enough exposure to American politics to be unsurprised by legalized corruption, but this film revealed some things that stunned even a cynic like myself.

The path to expand ranked choice voting (RCV) in Maine has been an ongoing rollercoaster ride of successes followed by setbacks followed by more successes for reformers. However, RCV advocates can celebrate once again after the Maine Supreme Court issued an emergency ruling Tuesday which clarifies that (for now) no referendum on RCV for presidential elections will appeal on the November ballot.

The absence of a referendum also means that ranked choice voting is once again set to be used for the first time in a presidential general election.