The Great Falls Tribune reported Friday that Montana Republicans filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of the United States to close the June 7 primary to registered party members only. IVN News has long followed efforts by the Republican and Democratic parties to close their primaries and

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Press Club on Monday raised concerns about the increasing attacks and threats against journalists covering the United States presidential campaign, particularly after multiple unsettling reports from Donald Trump events. The Press Club urges all candidates and their teams to support freedom of the press, and to respect journalists playing a vital role in U.S. democracy.

American politics is about to change. Not because of Donald Trump, per se, or Bernie Sanders. It's about to change because Americans are fed up with decades of division, discord, and political paralysis that promise only to get worse in the years to come, no matter who gets elected president this time around.

Needing only 775 more delegates to capture the Republican nomination, Trump has the chance to get almost half way home with the 367, mostly winner-take-all, delegates up for grabs on March 15.

The recent cancellation of a Donald Trump rally in Chicago has re-energized a popular misconception about free speech in our country—namely, we all get to speak without receiving any flak for what we say.

As primary election day approaches in Illinois, one group that is attempting to reform congressional maps is looking to see their agenda become a reality. Independent Map Amendment, the group leading the charge to change the way maps are drawn in Illinois, is using the last few days before the March 15 primary to build on its success.

Many authors and commenters on IVN clearly believe that it is wrong for any party, or any state law, to prevent independent voters from voting in a government-administered primary for public office. I am personally undecided about that issue. It would help me to think clearly about this issue if someone will write an article for IVN that explains the philosophical objections some voters have to being required to join a party before they can vote in its primary for public office.

Correction note: This article originally said that Open Primaries spent $300,000 in support of the donation disclosure initiative. It was the coalition in support of both initiatives. The article has been corrected.

Salon reported Thursday that a campaign to adopt nonpartisan elections in Arizona suspended its efforts after a major donor dropped out.

On Thursday, I was astonished to see someone argue that the gridlock and hopeless partisanship we see in Washington are just phenomenalized by the news, and that our politicians 'really do' work together.

This is, of course, vastly different than what we usually perceive our government to be doing -- between the budget shutdowns, refusal to hear SCOTUS nominations, and the sheer number of  bills dying from lack of cloture -- we have gridlock. But just how bad is it?