Ranked Choice Voting Worked in Alaska. Sarah Palin Came to CPAC To Complain About It.
According to a recent report, the system Palin once said was "so weird" that it "results in voter suppression" worked just as well as intended.
Voting
Former Arizona AG Found No Evidence of 2020 Election Fraud. He Kept Quiet.
Mark Brnovich left office without issuing a final report, according to documents released by his successor.
New NTSB Report Highlights Useless, Premature Regulatory Push After East Palestine Derailment
Plus: Ex-felons and the right to vote, Gavin Newsom's plan to cap oil company profits collides with reality, and more...
Ranked Choice Voting Won at the Polls in 2022
On a ranked choice ballot, voters can rank every candidate in a given race. Over time, that could lead more voters to consider candidates outside the two parties.
Washington State's Democrats Float a Proposal To Make Voting Mandatory
The proposal is "about behavior modification," argued state Sen. Patty Kuderer, likening the government's role in promoting voting to that of a parent.
Georgia Secretary of State: Democrats 'Double Down on False Claims' About Elections
Brad Raffensperger compares President Joe Biden and Sen. Raphael Warnock to Donald Trump.
Georgia Could Be the Next State To Try Ranked Choice Voting
After a bruising Senate loss, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is open to alternatives.
Puerto Rico Inches Toward Self-Determination
"At this point, it is pretty much a fact that Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States," says one observer.
In Alaska, Ranked Choice Voting Worked
Partisan outrage over Sarah Palin's defeat shouldn't obscure the obvious benefits of better voting systems.
Democrats Spent Millions Boosting Far-Right Republicans. How Did It Pan Out?
And is this a good precedent to be setting?
Nevada Voters Could Smash the Two-Party Duopoly
Abolishing party-specific primary elections makes a lot of sense, and might help steer American democracy back towards the center.
Conservative Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw Says Republican Leaders' Election Denialism was "Always a Lie"
GOP politicians lied in order to exploit public ignorance. That dynamic is just one particularly egregious example of the broader danger widespread voter ignorance and bias.
'Election Fraud' Can Become Our Awful New Hyperbole
If we go through one election cycle after another and every loser unjustifiably cries fraud, eventually the claim will cease to impress.
Georgia Sets Early Voting Record, Despite Controversial Voting Law
Many opponents, including the president, criticized the law in misleading terms, obscuring its very real issues.
Supreme Court Leaves Georgia's Onerous Ballot Access Law in Place
Despite the state's law allowing no third-party House candidates to get on the ballot in 60 years, the Court declined to hear the case.
House Passes Electoral Count Act Reform Bill
The bill is similar to that drafted by a bipartisan group of senators. Either version, or a reconciliation between the two, would be a major step forward relative to the status quo.
Biden's Party Is Still Boosting Those 'MAGA Republicans' the President Warned Us About
New Hampshire Republican candidates get a leg up from expensive Democratic ad buys.
Why Are Democrats Dragging Their Feet on the Electoral Count Reform Act?
Biden says Republicans are plotting a repeat of 2020 in 2024. Maybe Congress should do something to prevent that?
Don't Blame Ranked Choice Voting. Sarah Palin Was a Bad Candidate.
Blaming the ballot system ignores the fact that many Alaskans simply did not think the former governor really represented them.
Three Points of Agreement on Democracy Protection
Sixth post in the symposium on the National Constitution Center "Restoring the Guardrails of Democracy" project. Edward Foley of Team Progressive highlights some points of agreement between the three reports.
Arkansans Will Vote on Marijuana Legalization. But Their Votes May Not Count.
The measure will be on the ballot, but depending on how the state Supreme Court rules, the votes may just not be counted.
Alaska Elected a Democrat to Congress for the First Time in 50 Years
Mary Peltola will only be the third Democrat, as well as the first Native Alaskan, to represent Alaska since it became a state.
My New Book Chapter on "Top-Down and Bottom-Up Solutions to the Problem of Political Ignorance""
It is now available for download on SSRN. The chapter is part of a forthcoming volume on "The Epistemology of Democracy," edited by Hana Samaržija and Quassim Cassam.
Ron DeSantis Touted the Arrest of 20 People for Illegally Voting. Some Say They Were Told They Were Eligible.
The messy rollout of a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to felons is now creating more felony crimes.
Redistricting in New York Will Cost a Longtime Democrat a House Seat
Despite an overwhelming sense that the country is headed in the wrong direction, the only way most voters will fire an incumbent is by voting for a different incumbent instead.
Lisa Murkowski Survives, Sarah Palin Struggles Under Alaska's New Voting System
Murkowski was likely saved by the state's new open primary, while Palin may have to depend on voters who picked her as their second choice.
Florida County Approves Bad Spanish Translation of Property Tax Ballot Measure
The Spanish text contains inaccurate translations of technical tax language and direct translations of phrases like "school resource officers," which could confuse voters.
Michigan GOP Attorney General Candidate Under Investigation by His Opponent for 2020 Voting Machine Scheme
Matthew DePerno is under investigation by his opponent's office for allegedly illegally seizing and "testing" voting machines from several Michigan counties.
Eric Boehm: Georgia Ballot Access Is Insane
Reporter Eric Boehm unpacks the batty requirements confronting third party candidates in a Georgia congressional race.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court Just Made Ballot Drop Boxes Illegal
The ruling has been hailed as a fraud-reducing measure. The only problem? A vanishingly low incidence of fraud in the first place.
More on the National Constitution Center "Restoring the Guardrails of Democracy" Project
Video of presentations by the leaders of the Conservative, Libertarian, and Progressive Teams. Plus, my thoughts on a comparison of the three reports by Progressive Team leader Ned Foley.
Team Libertarian Report from National Constitution Center "Restoring the Guardrails of Democracy" Project Now Available on SSRN
I coauthored the report with Clark Neily and Walter Olson, both of the Cato Institute.
Elections Are Too Online
We can make our voting systems just a bit dumber and a whole lot safer.
Can the January 6 Committee Hearings Break Through the Barriers of Political Ignorance and Bias Underpinning the Big Lie?
Most of those open to evidence already know that Trump tried to reverse the outcome of an election he legitimately lost. Reaching the rest is likely to be extremely difficult, at best.
Simple Reforms Could Prevent Election Chaos
There is bipartisan support to reform the Electoral Count Act to prevent another January 6th.
Sarah Palin, Santa Claus Among 48 Candidates for Alaska's Open House Seat
The election serves as a trial run for Alaska's new voting process, which could be a boon for third-party candidates.
If Georgia's Election Law Was Supposed To Suppress the Vote, It Sure Did a Bad Job
After bracing for a supposed return of Jim Crow, Georgia saw a major increase in early votes in this week's primaries.
Consistent Paternalists Should Back Restrictions on Voters, Too
In an important new article, political philosophers Jason Brennan and Christopher Freiman explain why standard justifications for paternalistic restrictions on consumers also apply to voters.
Florida, Tennessee Ban Ranked-Choice Voting Despite Citizen Support
Politicians who benefit from divisive election politics resist reforms that threaten the status quo.
Georgia Election Investigation Fails, Once Again, To Find Massive Voter Fraud
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger claimed that over 1,000 people voted more than once. He now admits that number is far lower.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Larry David isn't afraid to lay bare how much of politics is about appeasing the masses.
Democrats Still Have a Way To Pass Their Voting Rights Legislation
Not by changing the filibuster rules, but by stressing them.
The Democrats' Voting Bill Is Dead, but Electoral Reform Isn't
The defeat of Democrats' voting rights legislation could lead to meaningful progress on election integrity.
Were Biden's Election Legitimacy Remarks Dangerous or Just Stupid?
They were a bit of both.
Andrew Yang Is Still Trying To Move Forward
"We need to break up the duopoly, and the mechanical way to break up the duopoly is by shifting to open primaries and ranked choice votings so that every perspective has a shot."
As With Gun Control, Democrats' Voting Reform Bills Unlikely To Make a Difference
The bills call for reforms that would be nearly impossible to implement and will not prevent a repeat of 2020.
Should We Lower the Voting Age to Six?
British political scientist David Runciman says the answer is "yes." And he makes a stronger case than you might think.
University of Florida Bans Professors From Testifying Against State Voting Law
"Outside activities that may pose a conflict of interest to the executive branch of the State of Florida create a conflict for the University of Florida," said the university in a statement.
