Most Americans believe the US is headed in the wrong direction, trust in the federal government is at dismal levels, and people are consumed by frustration, grief, and/or rage in uncertain and tumultuous times.

In the latest episode of "Unrig It," the official podcast of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers (NANR), Independent Voter News editor Shawn Griffiths talks with Honorary NANR Co-Chair Katherine Gehl. Gehl is a pre-eminent leader in the national reform space and is co-author of the new book, The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy.

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

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A long, and long-shot, quest to get more candidates onto the presidential debate stage has run aground in a federal appeals court.

Current events have turned everyone's attention to the nation’s criminal justice system. Most Americans agree that the system is broken. Yet, in a new Unbreaking America film, RepresentUs points out that the criminal justice system remains broken because the broken US political system keeps it that way.

“Even though crime rates across the US are going down, America locks up seven times more people now than we did in 1970,” says actor and RepresentUs Cultural Council member Omar Epps.

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

Compromise legislation that would make it easier to vote absentee in North Carolina this fall, and safer to vote in person, has been cleared with bipartisan support in the General Assembly.

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"Most Americans believe our political system is a public institution that follows a set of detailed, impartial principles, structures and practices derived from the Constitution… It isn’t.” - Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter

Imagine an industry where consumer trust has dropped to marginal levels, but nothing in that industry changed. It’s hard to do, right? Even now in the midst of a pandemic and social turmoil we see businesses commit to doing better to adapt to consumer demands. 

The Georgia elections Tuesday were characterized as “catastrophe.” A new $104 million voting system broke down, many voters couldn’t vote as a result of a ballot shortage, and those who could ended up waiting hours in line to exercise their right to vote.

The unrest spread across the country and even the world with great mass and sometimes terrifying ferocity. Here’s protestors throwing things as far away as Downing Street in London:

https://twitter.com/andrewdoyle_com/status/1268344644200476673

A street cone can be seen sent flying over the fence in a show of contempt.

Here is a tense confrontation between scores of police and protesters in Seattle:

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inadequacies of most elections in the US, specifically when it comes to protecting the right of voters in the midst of a crisis. However, two reforms have taken center stage in the ongoing conversation on how to provide safe and secure elections going forward: vote at home and ranked choice voting.

Baltimore is a one-party city, so much so that it hasn't had a Republican mayor since 1967. Registered Democrats vastly outnumber any other party registration, having a tenfold advantage over the Republican Party. It's as blue as a city could get.

The consequence of this is November elections are inconsequential. The winner of the closed Democratic mayoral primary, for instance, might as well be sworn in the next day, and he or she can win with a marginal share of the total registered voting population. Voters outside the Democratic Party have no voice in the process.