Rules That Block Independent Candidates From Final Presidential Debates Now in Jeopardy; 2020 Election Could Open Up

In blunt and highly critical language, a federal judge on Wednesday blasted the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and issued a ruling that lays the groundwork for removing the primary obstacle to a serious independent running for president in 2020.

Currently, CNN is running advertisements for an upcoming debate on healthcare featuring Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx). More specifically, it has been advertised in “fight night” style as ‘Sanders versus Cruz’, with the two going head to head over the future of Obamacare. CNN’s website describes Sanders as an “opponent of repealing Obamacare” and Cruz as “a supporter of the President’s healthcare agenda.”

A wave of bills aimed at reforming primary elections in four states were introduced last month. Legislators in Idaho, New Mexico, Illinois, and Virginia are looking to do away with their state’s partisan primary in favor of a nonpartisan top-two system. A top-two primary is where all candidates, regardless of party affiliation appear on the same primary ballot and the top-two vote-getters advance to the general election in November.

Overturns voter backed ethics referendum despite massive constituent outcry

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Pierre, SD: Today, Governor Dennis Daugaard signed HB 1069, a repeal of a the South Dakota Government Accountability and Anti-Corruption Act that was just passed by voters in November. Nearly 52 percent of voters backed the anti-corruption law. The repeal proposal overturns the election results.

WASHINGTON, DC – A federal court judge yesterday issued an unprecedented ruling that could open the way in 2020 for the first serious challenge in decades by an independent candidate for president.

In a blistering 28-­‐page decision, Judge Tanya Chutkan told the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that in its rejection of a complaint by Level the Playing Field, a non-­‐profit group trying to open up debates to a third candidate, it had acted in a manner that was “arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.”

In a surprising turn of events, several major developments in the world of electoral reform broke this week.

Let’s all stop pretending that we are arguing about a simple administrative moratorium on entry visas and whether or not Obama did, or did not do the same thing in 2011. Because we aren’t.

In a move likely to upset Democrats and Republicans at the national level, a federal court-panel has enjoined Wisconsin state officials from using existing district maps and ordered the state to redraw district lines by November 1, 2017.

One of the more notable tenets of Bernie Sanders’ platform during his campaign for president was a “Medicare-for-all” single-payer healthcare system.

Opponents push unprecedented procedural move to overrule vote of the people

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AUGUSTA – “Senate President Thibodeau’s procedural request for a solemn occasion on existing Maine law is unprecedented and out of order,” said Kyle Bailey with the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting. “This vote seeks to draw the judicial branch into a political debate that has already been settled by Maine people. It should be rejected.”