California submitted a new initiative (Californian Cannabis Hemp Initiative of 2014, 13-0013) for ballot consideration that would decriminalize cannabis in all its manifestations.

Jim Jenkins, an independent candidate, is running to fill an open U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska. The seat is being vacated by Senator Mike Johanns (R) who has decided not to run for re-election when his term is finished.

It all comes on the heals of the 2012 election where voters in three states (Maine, Maryland, and Washington) approved same-sex marriage and rejected a ban on it in the state of Minnesota.

So, what has transpired during the year?

“Off-year” elections, like those in 2013, tend not to get a lot of attention, especially from voters. There are not a lot of big races around the country, and turnout is usually far lower than in presidential election years. This year’s low-turnout election shows why certain lawmakers’ recent push to make voting harder is badly misplaced.

Independent voters like to do their thinking outside the narrow confines of false dichotomies and established paradigms. They don’t like their choices made for them, they’re weary of a debate that never seems to go anywhere, and they’re bored of the made-for-television drama that partisan politics has become.

But if you’re an Independent voter, you can declare your independence in other areas too.

Independent voters can also be:

health care law, and as its critics are now louder than ever, the Obama administration is moving fast and furiously to fix the Affordable Care Act.

"Obamacare" critics are quick to cry "disaster," but the law's advocates are insisting that people give it more time.

Using Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp – or “Gitmo” – for the imprisonment of terror suspects has been disputed for years. The American government, the international press, human rights advocates, and others have held divergent viewpoints, giving military historians and criminal justice students a discussion topic for decades to come.

Up 5 percentage points from March, 76% of Americans would vote in favor of raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour.

Every year on Veterans Day, I get a number of press releases from lawmakers in Congress about how our veterans should be honored and their sacrifices remembered on this day. However, before lawmakers make these statements, perhaps they should think about how exactly they have honored our veterans -- or shall I just cut to the chase and say haven't honored our veterans?