I recently received a note in the mail from Richard Winger, publisher of http://www.ballot-access.org/ and the nation’s premier third party ballot access expert, asking if I advocate making all elections non-partisan. Richard is a long-standing member of the Libertarian Party, and someone I consider a friend and colleague. We have been in the trenches together for [...]

Today is primary day in some key states for independent voters: Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Arkansas. Lots of media including this one from Liz Halloran at NPR talking about the anti-incumbent mood. Pennsylvania primaries (thanks to FairVote for these definitions) are closed (winners in 2008 2343 Clinton, McCain in the primary; November: Obama), meaning that only [...]

First up: Fred Newman, US radical independent political strategist and consultant to Mike Bloomberg’s three (3) successful NYC Independence Party campaigns, as quoted by Michael Barbaro at the New York Times reports tonight about the recent NYC Charter Revision Commission mandate for nonpartisan elections. And now, here’s what’s been shaking over the past couple of [...]

Independents Fight for Political Reform! Who are the “real independents”? Randy Miller is one of them, and you can meet plenty more grassroots activists who are working overtime (for no pay) fighting for political reforms like open primaries and nonpartisan elections all over the country! Let’s hope that Charlie Crist seeks some of us out [...]

You do not get to advocate for other peoples children until they are out of the womb. Period. The life in the belly of the woman belongs to the woman (and hopefully the father too). She (they) make the decisions – none are easy – and no person has the right to interfere. Oklahoma is [...]

by Randy Miller, Utah League of Independent Voters Well, I was born that way. We all were. Partisanship, like its cousin Prejudice, is learned. I was 20 years old serving as a Mormon missionary in North Dakota when Ross Perot ran for (and nearly won) President of the United States. I did not vote that [...]

“The donklephant is a genetic monstrosity whose every moment of existence is unbearable agony.” – Jon Stewart

Independent activist news this week was def centered on young people. See John Opdycke’s piece “Going Indy” and consider the fact that “fully 50 percent of voters aged 18-29 now identify as independents…” (Opdycke is the Chief of Staff forIndependentVoting.org/CUIP.) Let that sink in for a moment. Then pivot back towards the triangulationists featured in [...]

Last week was a busy one here in NYC for independents and youth, and independent youth: 2 public hearings for the NYC Charter Revision Commission, one in ‘da Bronx on Monday and one on Staten Island on Tuesday, where young independent activists are speaking out in favor of nonpartisan elections. Then off to the National Action Network conference [...]

Fred Newman talks about Tavis Smiley, the Black Agenda, Rev. Al Sharpton, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Jessie Jackson, Cornel West and Karl Marx in Talk Talk with Jackie Salit. You can view Tavis Smiley’s “Black Agenda” summit on C-Span here. While campaigns are underway in Louisiana and California for open primaries (Proposition 14 in CA) that [...]

A national movement for open primaries and nonpartisan elections is taking shape, highlights this week from New York, California and Louisiana, plus voter input from Indiana and Michigan. More news for independent voters at The Hankster.

Tiresome Two-Party System, Partisan Primaries and Alliances Our two-party system creates a point-counterpoint tiresome spin cycle, says Bonnie Erbe on the Thomas Jefferson Street blog. She likes multi-party democracy but doesn’t see any quick path to that result. Speaking on behalf of the one million Pennsylvania independents who are locked out of voting in the [...]

California – the laid back state, the Left Coast — has a real American fight going on. There’s a firestorm over California Proposition 14 open primary initiative. We might expect the major parties to oppose a referendum that gives more power to the people and less to the party bosses. The main opponents of Prop [...]

It’s particularly disturbing that at a moment when millions of independents are knocking at the door of an electoral process from which they are excluded, Ralph Nader and the third party movement would want to slam it shut. (From “Should state adopt an open primary? Yes” by independent attorney Harry Kresky in Sunday’s Sac Bee) [...]

Latest and greatest news and views about California’s open primary initiative, Proposition 14, on the ballot June 8. Partisans showed their true colors last week with back-room deals and litigation on the ballot wording. Prominent independent attorney Harry Kresky’s commentary on HuffPo “Words Matter” sheds lots of light on the nature of our democracy. And [...]

IndependentVoting.org attorney Harry Kresky’s piece today on HuffPo Words Matter: Voters to Get Fair Wording of California Open Primary Initiative is a gem. The assertion of such a right by the parties raises a fundamental question about the nature of our democracy. Does it rest on the rights of voters or on the rights of [...]

SEIU prez Andrew Stern is threatening to “go independent” on local races to oppose Dems who oppose Prez Obama’s healthcare reform bill. One enabling factor in New York is fusion voting, which has empowered third parties like the New York Independence Party, Conservative Party and Working Families Party. Meanwhile, former Dem La Plata County Colorado [...]

California Court of Appeals says no to Proposition 14 opponents, which is good news for independent voters. From CAIVN: “The Court rejected the CSEA language, preserved the lower court’s language, and ordered the restoration of the Legislative Analyst’s prediction of cost savings associated with the measure.” And open primaries gaining support in Pennsylvania and Illinois. [...]

If the Tea Party is a conservative element seeking to pull the Repubs (more) to the right, what’s your guess as to the role the Coffee Party wants to play? Is it MoveOn in disguise? Maybe…. Whatever it is, the notion of rallying people around an agenda of civil discourse makes me a little wary, not because I think screaming and yelling is a productive mode of social dialogue, but because it seems to me it’s more like using a silver spoon where a backhoe would do just as well. Is it really ok to destroy the country with a smile on your face and a “so sorry” on your lips?

More commentary this weekend on California’s Proposition 14 “top two” open primary referendum after Judge Allen Sumner’s ballot wording ruling on Friday. The ruling was seen as a win for independent voters by attorney Harry Kresky of IndependentVoting and by Californians for an Open Primary/Yes on 14… Meanwhile, state Rep. Hunter Greene, a Republican who [...]