Shawn is an election reform expert and National Editor of IVN.us. He studied history and philosophy at the University of North Texas. He joined the IVN team in 2012.
Gerrymandering
Missouri state officials are getting slammed with lawsuits over a new congressional map that People Not Politicians (PNP) says should be frozen after it submitted over 300,000 signatures to let voters decide to keep or reject the map.
Gerrymandering
People Not Politicians (PNP) submitted over 305,000 signatures last week to freeze a congressional gerrymander passed by the Missouri Legislature in September. However, state officials are doing everything they can to pretend this citizen revolt isn’t happening.
Reform Roundup
Things looked like they could get even more chaotic this week in the mid-cycle gerrymandering arms race between the two major parties as the Indiana Senate took up a new congressional map to give Republicans an even greater electoral advantage in the state. But Indiana Senate Republicans this week p
Ranked Choice Voting
As voters brace for what is expected to be a chaotic and divisive midterm election cycle, U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin (Md.), Don Beyer (Va.), and U.S. Senator Peter Welch (Vt.) have re-introduced legislation that would require ranked choice voting (RCV) for all congressional primaries and gene
Ranked Choice Voting
The National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers (NANR) held its 9th annual summit in Miami this week following a year of political chaos and partisan machinations that put power before representation, accountability, and fairness.
Open Primaries
The number of independent voters continues to grow at a historic rate nationwide. It is becoming increasingly common for this voting bloc to outnumber registered members of at least one major party, and even to make up a majority of the electorate in some places. And yet, these voters are
Gerrymandering
Earlier this week, a three-judge panel blocked a mid-decade gerrymander by the Texas Legislature designed to bolster the Republican Party’s razor-thin majority in the U.S. House, setting the stage for what could become a complex legal matter.
Ranked Choice Voting
Ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to see a surge in momentum across the U.S. However, the state that has seen the largest reform growth in the last 5 years -- Massachusetts -- has received little attention. This is because the 10 cities that have approved RCV have not been able to implement it du
Polling Data
A new poll from the Independent Center highlights a clear message from the public: Americans are fed up with the current political leadership, and they’re ready for change.
Gerrymandering
The 2026 midterm election cycle is quickly approaching. However, there is a lingering question mark over what congressional maps will look like when voters start to cast their ballots, especially as Republicans and Democrats fight to obtain any electoral advantage possible.
Ranked Choice Voting
With the national media focused on elections in New York City, New Jersey, Virginia, and California, one overlooked story was the expansion of ranked choice voting on Tuesday as Greenbelt, Maryland, joined the dozens of U.S. cities that have adopted and already use the reform.
California
Ahead of the November 4 special election in California, it was easy to predict the success of a legislative gerrymander under Prop 50. When the measure was projected to be victorious the second polls closed, it didn’t surprise anyone.