I first heard the news that Ross Perot had died last Tuesday afternoon and it didn’t take long for the major media obituaries to appear. In public life in America, your obituary is written long before you die – literally and figuratively.

Independent and third party candidates more often than conventional candidates clearly identify America’s core challenges, pains and crises. They sometimes present well-considered solutions, though they may not know enough about the legislative and executive branches of government to implement those solutions. Still, here are seven reasons why independent presidential debates and forums will save America in 2020.

We have come a long way as a country in terms of securing and protecting voting rights in the US. Still, the fight continues to give all voters, regardless of party affiliation, equal access to all stages of the taxpayer-funded election process.

Touro Law Review just published a new article to educate legal scholars and the courts on where nonpartisan reform groups stand on equal voting rights in the US, especially as it pertains to the tens of millions of voters who are now registered independent nationwide.

There is no right more deeply embedded into our country’s identity than the right to vote. It is so valued by US citizens that 91% say the right to vote is essential to their own sense of personal freedom.

This country was founded on the notion that we should always have a government by the people and for the people. And, as our nation has evolved, so has our conception of the right to vote and to whom this right is extended.

On the eve of the Democrat debates, Peter Ackerman, chairman of Level the Playing Field, joined our podcast to talk about a bigger debate fight going into 2020. Ackerman’s group is engaging in an effort to make our Presidential debates more inclusive, which is why his group is suing the Federal Elections Commission.

Worried about election security? Does the party-focused primary system leave you confused about your voting rights? Will we run into the same issues we saw in 2016 that disenfranchised and frustrated millions of voters in 2020?

In the latest episode of "Topping The Duopoly," host Shawn Griffiths talks with Kammi Foote, the chief election administrator in Inyo County, California.

Update: Despite passing with strong majorities in both chambers of the legislature, it has come to my attention that the ranked choice voting bill in Maine did not make its way to the governor's desk. Due to an 11th hour procedural movement, the bill was sent back to the Senate. According to the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, the bill is not dead. There is still an opportunity to pass it when the legislature meets later this summer to address the governor's vetoes and bond packages.  Thank you Richard Winger for the updated information.

Update: Despite passing with strong majorities in both chambers of the legislature, it has come to my attention that the ranked choice voting bill in Maine did not make its way to the governor’s desk. Due to an 11th hour procedural movement, the bill was sent back to the Senate. According to the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, the bill is not dead.

IVP legal advisor Chad Peace joined KUSI's Paul Rudy to discuss the ongoing problems with the presidential primary, what it means for those who choose to register and run outside the major parties, and the Independent Voter Project's simple solution to fix the confusing and unconstitutional process.

Poor Bernie Sanders. It’s not enough that he had the balls to challenge The Anointed One in the Democratic Party primary in 2016. It’s not enough that in doing so he split open a divide in his party that makes the San Andreas Fault look like a crevasse you could hop, skip or jump over wearing a sturdy hiking shoe.