Our representatives are selecting their voters, as opposed to the voters selecting the representatives.  This is a situation that I think the American people should not accept.

–Barack Obama, 2/8/06

The disgusting act of gerrymandering is when partisan interests take control of the redistricting process, which is when congressional and legislative districts are redrawn and is usually conducted by state legislatures after the census, and use it to benefit incumbents and specific parties.  This is one of the more corrupt practices in state government – if you can believe that! – and is one of the more destructive forces on our republic today.

But there is good news.  There is a growing movement to end gerrymandering.  In 2008, Californians passed Prop 11, which moved the responsibility of redistricting from the legislature (who, like many other state legislatures, drew their own districts to their own advantage) to a nonpartisan committee.  Now, a group in Florida is trying to put an end to gerrymandering through yet another ballot initiative, and they need your help today more than ever, no matter where you live in the country.

Seeing as how there’s been some interest on the left recently of breaking from the Democratic Party and all of its corporate ties, I figured I would clue you in to the various third party challenges to the two party system that have the highest chances of success around the nation.  This is by no means a complete list, but it’s what I could come up with from my decently extensive knowledge of modern third party politics.

A few days ago I interviewed Cindy Sheehan, half as an blogger and half as an interested citizen activist.  Below the fold is the audio of the interview.  I’ve also typed up a brief summary of the interview, or at least what I could write down of her answers while holding a tape recorder in my other hand.  I’ll be posting a picture of both of us that a press photographer took if it makes it into a local newspaper, or if he sends me any pictures.

She talked about her political future, taking action locally, prosecuting Bush, Afghanistan, and more.  I had previously taken questions here and on a few other websites.

I really apologize for this tiny essay (probably the shortest I’ve ever written), but I’m just posting it to solicit questions for Cindy Sheehan.  I’m interviewing her tonight and if you have something that you want asked of her, just let me know!

I apologize for the short and rushed essay, but I really want you to take action (something anyone can easily do) on this issue that is near and dear to me.

The Pennsylvania Senate’s proposed budget, SB 850, would cut the Department of Conservation and Natural Resource’s budget so much that they might have to close about 35 state parks.  With 117 state parks in PA, that’s a huge chunk, and chances are there would be a state park near you closing if you live in Pennsylvania.

Go below the fold to see how you can take action.

Election reform is one of the most important issues facing our country and our world right now, even if it doesn’t get the coverage of torture or abortion.  The way that we run our elections and initiative processes determines who makes policy, the type of policy made, and the tone of our political discourse.  If we ignore it or take advantage of the electoral system, we our doing ourselves and our country a disservice.

This week:  Voter ID bill (aka poll tax) foiled in Texas by Democrats, corrupt Bush officials leading the charge for unsafe online voting, instant runoff voting’s failures, Ralph Nader accuses Terry McAuliffe of bribery, McAuliffe’s history of disenfranchising voters, FOX lies about Eric Holder, and more!

I apologize for the short and rushed essay, but I just wanted to get this story up as it’s breaking.  It might turn into some kind of bigger scandal for McAuliffe because people were convicted, in part, because of the things he apparently ordered them to do.

Election reform is one of the most important issues facing our country and our world right now, even if it doesn’t get the coverage of torture or abortion.  The way that we run our elections and initiative processes determines who makes policy, the type of policy made, and the tone of our political discourse.  If we ignore it or take advantage of the electoral system, we our doing ourselves and our republic a disservice.

This week:  The results to last week’s poll, a lawsuit to ban electronic voting, “The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny,” online voting in Honolulu, the Progressive Party makes progress, photo ID laws, Sotomayor’s election law history, the disappearance of secretaries of state, and more.

But first, I want to say something about Prop 8 and the recent court ruling.  It is outrageous that gay people in California now do not have equal rights, but the court ruling was more on how the initiative process works, and how Prop 8 fits into the state constitution than it was about gay rights.  There has been a lot of oversimplification of the issues of the court ruling and the initiative process, so I’d like to dispel some of that (as much as an amateur election reform activist can…).  Please follow me below the fold.

Crossposted at Dailykos.com, Opednews.com, and Congressmatters.com

Have you heard the reasons why many people believe Prop 8 passed this past November?  It’s the bigoted voters, say some, and they can’t be trusted!  It was a failed campaign by the gay community, say others.  And others still say it was the huge amount of money spent by out-of-state players like the Mormon Church.

But all of those explanations are ignoring an essential part of the story of how the initiative passed.  In light of the upcoming California Supreme Court ruling, I thought I’d tell you about the missing part of the Prop 8 story.

Crossposted at Dailykos.com and Congressmatters.com

Election reform is one of the most important issues facing our country and our world right now, even if it doesn’t get the coverage of torture or abortion.  The way that we run our elections and initiative processes determines who makes policy, the type of policy made, and the tone of our political discourse.  If we ignore it or take advantage of the electoral system, we our doing ourselves and our republic a disservice.

This week:  Ballot access lawsuits, Supreme Court election law cases, why the Hell Mike Gravel is in South Korea (hint: he’s not lost), one fourth of overseas votes go uncounted, universal voter registration proposed in New York state, and more!