In its ruling in the Citizens United case of 2010, the Supreme Court decided that organizations that are wholly independent of candidates could spend unlimited sums of money to influence elections because, in the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy, “independent expenditures do not lead to, or create the appearance of, quid pro quo corruption.”
Some reporters recently have reported on research that, based on only a few elections and without factoring in election competitiveness, suggests voter turnout has been adversely affected by introduction of ranked choice voting (RCV) in local elections. FairVote's research does not support this conclusion. Nor do the findings from a much more extensive research project led by University of Missouri-St. Louis professor David C. Kimball and presented at the September 2016 American Political Science Association annual meeting.
In a 21st century world filled with modern technological marvels that spread information far and wide instantaneously, a campaign's physical ground game is still the surest way for a candidate to win at the ballot box.
Deep in their cups after November 8th, lamenting the rolling tragedy that was this election season, the realization will settle in: “We could have won this one.”
“This was a winnable race. The opponent was so flawed. The people are so mad. We could have elected a worthy American to be president. Someone all Americans can believe in. We could have....”
More than one observer of American life has lamented the dark and depressing tone of the 2016 presidential election, believing we have sunk to a previously unknown low.
Regardless of political inclinations, no one feels good about the tone of either campaign of the two major party candidates or the absence of substance in online and mainstream media coverage.
Most people will agree, the 2016 presidential election has been the craziest in modern U.S. history, and there are millions of Americans who are looking forward to its end. While the threat of possible legal challenges looms in the event of close races in key battleground states, what would cause voters' heads to collectively explode is if there is a 269-269 tie in the Electoral College.
Don't lose your head just yet. This outcome is statistically unlikely. However, the first question of whether it is possible can be answered with an indisputable “yes.”
Today, the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians will face off in game one of the World Series, highlighting 108- and 68-year droughts, respectively, since either claimed a title.
The world has changed a lot since the Cubs lost to the Detroit Tigers in 1945 and the Indians defeated the Boston Braves in 1948. That got us wondering what Congress was up to way back then. Here’s what we found:
Flores Questions Environmentalist’s Support of Measure D
District 9 City Council candidate Ricardo Flores expressed his opposition to Measures C and D in an interview with San Diego Union-Tribune last week. He opposes Measure C, also known as the Chargers’ Initiative, on the grounds that it permits the use of taxpayer dollars to build a new football stadium.
Like so many other Americans, I too have become frustrated with the unbridled lack of civility, crippling partisanship, and dysfunctional gridlock that prevent our country from solving the serious problems we face on a daily basis.
Yet despite the demagoguery and rampant dysfunction that is so prevalent in today’s political process, I believe a unique opportunity exists to create a political movement based on civil discourse and critical thinking.
Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul has introduced new legislation that would implement a nonpartisan, top-two primary similar to California's new election system passed in 2010 under Proposition 14 (authored by the Independent Voter Project, a co-publisher of IVN). Rasoul argues that the statewide reform will bring fairer and more efficient elections to Virginia.