Introduction to the Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court

ISSUE: Whether a New Jersey statute mandating that otherwise qualified voters join one of two particular political parties as a condition of voting at an integral stage of the State’s election process violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

Filed: July 7, 2015

Independent Voter Project (IVP) filed a petition for Writ of Certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday in a case challenging the constitutionality of New Jersey’s closed primary system.

Bernie Sanders, the 73-year-old independent Vermont senator and 2016 presidential candidate, has taken the Internet by storm, earning the title “king of social media” and "Facebook royalty."

The online success of Sen. Sanders can be summed up in one, simple word: Authenticity. 

Authenticity: noun, the quality of being authentic; genuineness.

In 2013, Vice President Joe Biden stated as fact that Jewish industry leaders in Hollywood and social media had more to do with the normalization of America's perception of gay marriage than any other force.

On Sunday's "Meet the Press," host Chuck Todd raised an issue that is getting more and more attention from the media: the record proportion of voters who call themselves independents - and their lack of a voice in the upcoming presidential election. Here is part of the transcript...

CHUCK TODD:

The growing number of voters who don't affiliate with either major political party is reshaping our political system perhaps more than you may realize. How? Let's take a look at this.

On July 5, Greek citizens decisively voted "no" on a 68-word referendum about whether to accept a proposal from international financial institutions. The proposal involved the creditors extending a bailout program to Greece in exchange for new austerity measures.

The referendum was the culmination of a week of tensions between the Greek government and the creditors, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB), and leading European politicians.

A recent NBC poll confirms that the partisan political environment is, in fact, taking a toll on the two major parties, with voter registration revealing that self-identified independents are the fastest growing voting bloc in America.

The Illinois special election primary to fill the seat of a resigned congressman is scheduled for Tuesday. Despite being the only election occurring in the country, there has been little enthusiasm or attention for the race.

. . . the idea of the future being different from the present is so repugnant to our conventional modes of thought and behavior that we, most of us, offer a great resistance to acting on it in practice. -- John Maynard Keynes, 1937

For a little more than two decades, the CIA, in conjunction with the director of National Intelligence, has created a forward looking document called Global Trends every four years for use by the Executive Branch for policy-making.

As the event neared its end, the energy of the crowd was surging, and in the darkness someone began to waive the rainbow flag of LGBT pride.