It is no secret that the two major parties in the U.S have actively worked to rig the election system for their own benefit and so they can drown out any independent voices. I was reminded of this fact earlier this year when the Florida legislature was unable to come up with a new district map after the previous one was found to be illegal. Inspired by my home state, I want to shed light on a few other obstacles the parties put in front of our democracy.
CNBC will host the third presidential debate on October 28, titled, "The Republican Presidential Debate: Your Money, Your Vote." Three debates in, the host and venue may have changed, but the faces on the stage will not. CNBC revealed Wednesday that 10 candidates met the 3 percent polling threshold (2.5% or higher, actually) to appear on the main stage, meaning that none of the top-tier candidates still running were eliminated.
On October 4, the California Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform, also known and ReformCA, filed papers to place their initiative, the legalization of recreational marijuana, on the November 2016 ballot.
The House Freedom Caucus ensured that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) would have the support to secure the position of Speaker of the House next week following a vote on Wednesday night.
However, while Ryan did receive two-thirds of the vote, he did not receive the 80 percent required for an endorsement, and the group stated that it would not accept all of his terms for Speaker.
After the meeting, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) said, “We are not meeting all his demands, but if he wants to be speaker, he has the votes as of tonight.”
The Supreme Court’s June 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision held that the fundamental right to marry extends to same-sex couples, a small minority of Americans. Among other things, the right to same-sex marriage includes constitutionally guaranteed rights of inheritance and legal parental status for children.
Republicans and Democrats in the Wisconsin legislature are snarling about 3 bills that propose the dissolution of the state's Government Accountability Board (GAB). The board currently oversees the state's election and campaign finance laws.
California’s revolutionary top-two nonpartisan system, adopted as Proposition 14 in 2010, is not revolutionary at all. In fact, it’s almost the exact system we have had in San Diego for a long, long time—except for two critical differences here:
- If a candidate gets more than 50 percent in the primary, we don’t even hold a general election.
On October 20, shortly after the Democratic presidential debate, former U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) decided to withdraw from the 2016 Democratic primary. If your first thought is bewilderment over who Jim Webb is, it only highlights how the media has overlooked this presidential candidate.
From CNN to The Hill, up until Wednesday, everyone was convinced Joe Biden was running for president. Alleged sources close to the vice president or a friend of a friend of a source at the local bar told reporters and political pundits in the mass media that Joe was a go.
Instead, Joe said no.
There is no doubt that citizens in the U.S. are disillusioned and increasingly disengaged with a Congress that does not accurately represent the nation’s demographics. That story isn’t new.
However, what is new is the amount of success grassroots efforts are seeing in their pursuit of more representative election systems, like ranked choice voting and nonpartisan election reform.