In this episode, Dan and Shawn examine how the system let this happen, how similar failures have played out in American history, and what it says about a two-party structure that forces voters to choose between different flavors of dysfunction, rather than ensuring effective governance.

The estimated cost for Tuesday’s primary elections in Pennsylvania is around $75 million for state and local governments. It’s a large price tag, especially since it is being paid for by voters who are denied the right to participate.

A legal showdown over the future of campaign finance laws in Maine — and potentially nationwide — begins May 22 as a federal judge is set to hear oral arguments over a voter-approved cap on contributions to super PACs at a time when these groups continue to shatter records in election spending.

Many voters may not be aware that on May 1 the Federal Election Commission (FEC) lost its ability to enforce federal campaign finance and election laws after Republican Allen Dickerson departed the agency, leaving it without the quorum it needs to perform its most important roles.

Alaskans made history in 2020 when they passed the first-in-the-nation election system that not only eliminated party primaries but adopted a voting system for the general election that gave them the option to rank candidates in order of preference.

Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has introduced a plan for systemic immigration reform and a front-and-center border security plan to reach what he says should be a bipartisan goal of “getting illegal border crossing to as near zero as possible.” 

A bill that would open Pennsylvania primary elections to over 1.4 million registered independent voters, HB 280, cleared its first major hurdle to becoming law this week when it cleared the House State Government Committee.

On May 14, the Boston City Council voted 8–4 in favor of a Home Rule Petition allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference, a shift that could change how Bostonians elect their leaders.

IVN recently examined AB 955, by Assemblymember David Alvarez. The bill seeks to expand a healthcare service program I created in 1998 as the author of SB1658.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is reviving efforts to regulate the powerful and often opaque intermediaries at the center of the prescription drug supply chain. In a proposal unveiled as part of his revised May budget, Newsom calls for stringent oversight of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), companies he says are driving up patient costs.