<div><p>Shawn is the Election Reform Editor for IVN.us. He studied history and philosophy at the University of North Texas, and joined the IVN team in 2012. He has several years of experie
Colorado voters went to the polls Tuesday for the 2018 midterm primary elections. It was the first major primary season independents were allowed to participate in without re-registering with one of the major parties since Proposition 108 passed in 2016. Midterm primaries historically don't have as high of
It was a shocking blow to the Democratic establishment Tuesday when 10-term US Rep. Joe Crowley (NY-14) was defeated in the primaries by 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Crowley is not only a long-time member of the US House, he is the chair of the House Democratic Caucus and is speculated to
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote a joint op-ed with US Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) looking at the political parties' hatred of the nonpartisan, top-two open primary in California -- hatred that was on display leading up to the June 5 primary elections. Schwarzenegger and Khanna say party bosses
AUGUSTA, ME -- Several ballots are still being counted for Maine's June 12 primary election, but what is clear is Question 1 to protect ranked choice voting won a decisive victory, despite the political establishment's efforts to kill the reform The historic significance of this win
The Supreme Court refused to weigh in on the issue of partisan gerrymandering in two cases out of Wisconsin (Gill v. Whitford) and Maryland (Benisek v. Lamone). The justices sent Gill v. Whitford back down to a lower court, while Maryland was dismissed unanimously. In Benisek v. Lamone, the justices
ARIZONA - Republicans in Arizona are trying to rob Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Kevin McCormick of a spot on the ballot. This is in spite of the fact that he has submitted the second-most signatures of any candidate to meet qualifications for the November ballot. Jonathan Lines, chairman of the Arizona
In my latest interview, I spoke with Nick Braña, who served as the National Outreach Coordinator for Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign and is the founder of the Movement for a People's Party, a group of former Bernie supporters, progressive independents, and disenchanted Democrats who believe a
It's been a long, bumpy road for ranked choice advocates in Maine. State politicians have pulled out all the stops to overturn the voter-approved election reform, but Maine voters sent them a strong message Tuesday: Respect our vote. Voters used RCV to select party nominees in the Republican
Maine Gov. Paul LePage opposes ranked choice voting so much that he says he "probably" won't certify Tuesday's election results. Every Mainer who voted in Tuesday's primary made history. They were the first voters to cast ranked choice voting ballots for state,
The DNC Rules Committee approved the recommendation of a new rule last week that allows the party to block certain presidential campaigns. More specifically, the party will block campaigns that do not "affirmatively demonstrate that they are faithful to the interests, welfare and success of the Democratic Party of
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach could face a grand jury investigation while he runs for governor. The Kansas Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a citizen grand jury can proceed with an investigation into allegations that Kobach tampered with people's ability to register to vote online. Readers
The biggest primary day of 2018 has come and gone. The November ballot is now set in California and 7 other states. As I looked at the coverage from the week, I noticed an article from Slate writer Jamelle Bouie that makes the case that because the nonpartisan, top-two primary