1. Democratic legislators in New Mexico say they support opening primaries up to independent voters.

"The effort is being taken up by two Democratic state legislators from Albuquerque. Sen. Bill O’Neill and Rep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll0zyMTN8Og

Does Santa meet FAA regulations? Shouldn't we break up his viscous monopoly on Christmas? These are questions being asked by the creators of the new satirical animated Christmas movie, Uncle SAMta, which hopes to provide a comedic, yet truthful look at the economy -- offering something to all ages as an aspiring Christmas classic for years to come.

As IVN contributor AJ Signieri described in June, third parties in Illinois struggle to secure a place on the state’s general election ballots. If a party’s nominee for governor does not cross the 5 percent threshold, the party is considered a “new party” and must collect at least 25,000 signatures to appear on the next ballot.

Third parties and third-party candidates are accustomed to losing in America. Many of their leaders, in fact, like it that way. For them, it is more about getting attention than about genuinely affecting change.

The partisan tides are clearly beginning to shift in California's 4th Congressional District, a trend that is more visible under the state's nonpartisan, top-two open primary.

This fall, Oregonians will vote by mail to decide whether Oregon will join its neighbors, California and Washington, and become the third west coast state to pass the top-two primary.

As expected, much of the state's political establishment, including the Democratic Party of Oregon, the Republican Party of Oregon, Oregon Right to Life, and Our Oregon, which is primarily funded by the state's two largest public employee unions, oppose the measure. (Note: three of those groups support the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United)

1. Terry Goddard, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state in Arizona, describes how independent voters and candidates are disenfranchised by the current election system.

"Arizona encourages partisan voters to turn out, while our state treats Independent voters like second-class citizens.

Republican incumbent Anthony Cannella will defend his state Senate seat in November against Democrat Shawn Bagley. Yet party labels don't appear to matter much in California's 12th Senate District. Cannella has maintained a high approval rating despite the fact that 46 percent of the district's voters are registered Democrats.

Winners in bold:

Our entire system of voting in America is in crisis. Gerrymandering, voting law changes, and the "overbearing majority" practiced by both parties has left a general feeling of disenfranchisement among a growing cross-section of the population.

A reasonable solution is a system of voting that does not encourage partisanship or gerrymandering.