It's just about 4:00 pm Central Time and there are about two hours before the polls close in the South Carolina special election between Mark Sanford and Elizabeth Colbert Busch. It's been one of the more bizarre races that I can recall, but that may be compounded by the fact that it's the only race going on right now.

In order to delve into the implications of drone policy on Washington, technology, civil rights, manufacturing, and journalism, Future Tense Now, a project of Slate, New America Foundation, and Arizona State, hosted "The Drone Next Door Conference" today. Here's what you missed:

Given the expected 75 word limit on proposed 2014 constitutional amendments, Florida Independent Voting (fivorg.com) proposes the following legislative changes to implement Top-Two Open Primary. The changes are patterned after the Top-Two Open Primary laws in California and Washington state.

The United States uses more oil than any other country in the world, consuming more than 18.5 million barrels a day. Despite important resources in its soil, the U.S. remains dependent on foreign oil.

In 2011, 45 percent of the crude oil and petroleum products consumed in the United States were imported. The main oil exporters to the United States are Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Nigeria.

Further disputes over prison reduction efforts in California have been raised over the potential health risks tied to an airborne fungus. In a recent court filing, Governor Jerry Brown’s administration objected to moving forward with an order that would remove more than 3,000 inmates from two prisons where this pathogen is being linked to three-dozen deaths and hundreds of hospitalizations.

New York has been a hotbed for ideas surrounding campaign finance reform. From public funding of elections to donation matching, New Yorkers have been discussing innovative and constructive solutions to the problem of poor voter participation.

In the latest ACT National Curriculum Survey, 89 percent of high school teachers believe their students are prepared for college-level work. However, only 26 percent of college professors believe their students are prepared. The two professions are at odds on student preparedness:

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Sen. Darrell Steinberg, Credit: ABC News

Ask a nonvoter why they don't vote, and they will reply something like, "my vote doesn't count anyway, nothing ever changes." And they're right. Either a red or blue duopolist clone will win—guaranteed.