The big story this week was how Donald Trump, aka The Donald, pulled ahead of the crowded Republican field by taking the lead in the latest poll. POLITICO's headline read: Donald Trump leads GOP field in latest poll.

Democracy functions best when the most people participate. And if you accept that standard, our democracy is not functioning well.

This is the basis for two voting rights efforts, one at the state level (AB 1461, the “California New Motor Voter Act”) and one directed at the city of San Diego (removing the 50 percent + 1 primary election winner rule), that are attempting to improve the health of our democracy.

But will either of these efforts help cure voter apathy?

On Wednesday, the quarterly presidential campaign filing reports were made available to the public. Voters can now access this quarter's records, and get a look at who or what is bankrolling the 2016 campaigns and how those campaigns are spending that money.

President Obama may have been a bit too skeptical of the diplomatic process last week when he said the odds were lower than 50/50 that a deal would be reached, with a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) being reached in Vienna on July 14.

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. -- California legislators introduced a bill last March that will automatically register citizens to vote when they obtain or renew their driver's license. The new law follows in Oregon's footsteps with the hopes to increase California's record-low voter turnout of 42.2 percent.

When it comes to what is wrong with Congress, some blame a campaign finance system run amuck, others point to unsustainable spending, some call out the high incumbency rate, and for others, partisan politics receives a great deal of fault.

You're busy with things I assume. But, being a human with an Internet connection, you have probably come across posts or videos about something having to do with a deal between the United States and Iran over nuclear weapons. Like everything else in modern media, this historic agreement has been accompanied with an array of different opinions and "takes." But which opinion is the right one to deploy at this Saturday's BBQ?

Lucky for you, the good people at Vox have really good graphic videos that explain rather complex things in under 5 minutes. Here, take a look:

CALIFORNIA -- The LA Times reported Tuesday that the state has given opponents of California's new mandatory vaccination law the green light to start collecting signatures to put the issue on the 2016 general election ballot.

The LA Times reports:

In response to How State, Federal Courts Are Working to End Partisan Gerrymandering, published July 13, I received several emails and Facebook messages questioning the statistic that the United States is now over 80 percent urbanized by population.

While this seems like a huge number, it came from the 2010 Census, which found that:

For those of you who have been under a rock for the last week or two, Donald Trump has set the 2016 presidential field on fire. In his very first speech announcing his candidacy, Trump managed to stir up a wave of controversy that has only propelled him to the top of the Republican field.