In the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, leaders on both sides of the aisle publicly called for unity and the tempering of extreme and hyperbolic language. But those calls have been better in theory, than practice.

A new ranked choice voting poll shows that if Democrats were to replace President Joe Biden on the party’s presidential ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris is the strong favorite. However, the numbers show she does not poll as well as Biden against former President Donald Trump.

Following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, leaders of both major political parties have called for unity and for a change to the venomous rhetoric in US politics. 

The Supreme Court of the United States is a unique, hybrid political-legal institution. It is staffed by life-tenured judges who interpret a centuries-old document replete with imprecise text that the justices must apply to an ever-changing society.

The Idaho secretary of state announced this week that Idahoans for Open Primaries turned in enough signatures for its ballot initiative to end the state's closed primary system.

The 90-minute faceplant that was Joe Biden’s performance in the CNN presidential debate did little to dispel notions that he might be too old to serve another term as president. Footage of Jill Biden escorting him down the two steps of the debate stage didn’t help either.

The Richmond City Council unanimously approved a ballot measure for November in a 5-0 vote that authorizes the use of ranked choice voting (RCV) for mayor and city council elections. 

The last couple of weeks have been eventful for independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, who may not have been invited to the CNN presidential debate but continues to rack up ballot access victories across the US.

Editor's Note: The following opinion piece was written by Kevin Johnson of the Election Reformers Network. It originally published on The Fulcrum and was re-published on IVN with permission from the publisher. Photo by the Unsplash+ Community.

 

In a system that was designed to perpetuate a zero-sum contest between two sides, the stakes get higher each election cycle to convince people they have to cast their ballot a certain way “or else.”