Independent voters are rewriting the political playbook

Posted by Danny Battista on October 15, 2017 at 9:00 AM

By Jacqueline Salit Special to the Star - October 15, 2017

Politics in America have always been seen through the prism of the two parties, even when challenges to those parties have arisen. If disruptions in that two-party fabric at the end of the last century came in the form of renegade outsider presidential candidates such as Ross Perot and Ralph Nader, the 2016 presidential elections brought massive voter rebellions inside the major parties. As gridlock, partisanship and dysfunction persist, we might ask ourselves, what comes next?

How partisan is too partisan? Wrong question.

Posted by Danny Battista on October 01, 2017 at 10:00 AM

Opinions

John Barrow - October 1, 2017

The U.S. Supreme Court is slated to tackle one of the most divisive issues in election law: partisan gerrymandering. The June announcement that the court will review the problem in a case from Wisconsin has caused some to wonder: Do we really want the Supreme Court to decide how partisan is too partisan?

This misstates the problem. The question is not whether the courts should decide how partisan is too partisan. It is how to make it possible for voters to decide that for themselves.

Independents resist party dogma and political extremism

Posted by Danny Battista on September 24, 2017 at 4:00 PM

By Andrea Christelle Special to the Daily Sun - September 24, 2017

Independent voters want electoral reform that provides equal access to both sides of the ballot — for candidates and for voters. Last weekend the League of Women Voters of the Greater Verde Valley in Sedona and the American Association of University Women in Flagstaff held forums to learn more about independent voters. In our state and in our nation, registering without a party affiliation is increasingly popular. Nationally, 44% of registered voters are independent, and 34% of Arizonans are. This might be bad for political parties, but it could be great for American democracy.