Tuesday marked a historic election for Charlottesville, Virginia, as the city used ranked choice voting (RCV) for the first time in a competitive Democratic primary. RCV advocates say the results offer a compelling case for the system’s potential to increase representation and voter satisfaction.

We’re halfway into 2025 and the year has already delivered several wins for independent voters and their right to equal participation in elections following a campaign cycle in which statewide ballot measure losses threatened to slow down the movement.

Republican lawmakers, political groups, and donors are going to attempt to qualify a constitutional amendment for California’s November 2026 ballot that would require voters to present government-issued identification and verify their citizenship before casting a ballot.

For nearly a decade, foreign policy analysts, former generals, and everyday citizens have been asking a once-unthinkable question: Is World War III on the horizon? Now, the question may not be whether it's coming, but whether it has already begun.

Registered unaffiliated voters in Nevada – the state’s largest registered voting bloc – came close to gaining real electoral power in elections with the adoption of semi-open primaries. That is, until Gov. Joe Lombardo decided to keep their voices suppressed.

Last week, Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles over the objections of state leaders, delivered a highly partisan speech to uniformed troops at Fort Bragg, and held a military parade in Washington, D.C. on his birthday.

ICE raids, Los Angeles riots, “No King” protests. It’s all people can talk about these days as immigration is front and center in the American social and political zeitgeist. For many voters, this all may seem familiar.

Showing an independent streak in keeping with Maine’s political tradition, Sen. Rick Bennett (R–Oxford) broke ranks with his party this week to join 91 Democrats in supporting a bill that would finally fulfill the will of Maine voters: implementing ranked choice voting (RCV) in all state general elections.

The health care crisis behind bars affects two distinct but deeply connected groups: incarcerated individuals and correctional officers. While incarcerated people are constitutionally entitled to care, access remains inconsistent, and most enter custody with significant medical and mental health needs. They face higher rates of chronic illness, infectious disease, and psychiatric conditions than the general public.

As the New York City Charter Revision Commission considers a wide breadth of reforms to city policy, one reform in particular is catching the attention of both voters and the media: Ending the city’s use of closed partisan primaries.