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China and Russia Condemn U.S. Strike on Iran—but Stay on the Sidelines

China and Russia Condemn U.S. Strike on Iran—but Stay on the Sidelines

Voter registration

With Ranked Choice Voting in NYC, Women Win

Just the Facts: Canadian Tariffs - June Update

Just the Facts: Canadian Tariffs - June Update

Meet the change leaders: Kevin Johnson, Election Reformers Network

Man at a podium with American Promise logo

Kevin Johnson, speaking at an American Promise event.

Courtesy Kevin Johnson
David L. Nevins
By David L. NevinsMay 14, 2024
David L. Nevins
David L. Nevins serves as co-publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action. He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.” He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
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Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Kevin Johnson is co-founder and executive director of Election Reformers Network, a nonpartisan nonprofit advancing innovations that protect elections from polarization. Since 2017, Johnson has led ERN’s research and advocacy programs focused on impartial election administration, independent redistricting and voting rules. He draws on decades of experience supporting emerging democracies overseas and advancing reforms in the United States.

Johnson is also a member of the Election Expert Study Team of the Carter Center, where he assists the U.S. Elections Program. He serves on advisory bodies of American Promise and Rank The Vote.

Johnson co-authored the first comprehensive study of secretary of state conflict of interest and pioneered the top-two proportional approach to Electoral College reform and the nominating commission approach to secretary of state selection. He has published more than two dozen op-eds on a wide range of reform topics in media outlets including The Washington Post, The Hill, Governing, Commonwealth Magazine, The Daily Beast and The Fulcrum.

At the National Democratic Institute, Johnson directed election observations in the West Bank and Gaza, Indonesia, and several countries in Africa, and organized advisory consultations for constitution drafters in new democracies, among other programs. With Common Cause, Johnsonled a successful anti-Citizens-United ballot question campaign in Newton, Mass., and helped organize citizen participation in the highly regarded 2011 Massachusetts redistricting process, among other efforts.

In 2002, Johnson co-founded Liberty Global Partners, an investment advisory firm focused on venture capital and private equity in emerging markets. At Liberty Global, he has led capital marketing initiatives that raised more than $6 billion for investment funds targeting China, India, Brazil, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. Johnson has an MBA from Wharton and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Yale University.

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Johnson in April for the CityBiz “Meet the Change Leaders” series. Watch to learn the full extent of the democracy reform work that Kevin does:

The Fulcrum Democracy Forum Meets Kevin Johnson, Executive Director of Election Reformers Networkyoutu.be

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Independent Voters Just Got Power in Nevada – if the Governor Lets It Happen

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Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash. Unplash+ license obtained by IVN Editor Shawn Griffiths.

Independent Voters Just Got Power in Nevada – if the Governor Lets It Happen

CARSON CITY, NEV. - A surprise last-minute bill to open primary elections to Nevada’s largest voting bloc, registered unaffiliated voters, moved quickly through the state legislature and was approved by a majority of lawmakers on the last day of the legislative session Monday.

The bill, AB597, allows voters not registered with a political party to pick between a Republican and Democratic primary ballot in future election cycles. It does not apply to the state’s presidential preference elections, which would remain closed to registered party members.

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Voter registration

In April 2025, the SAVE Act has been reintroduced in the 119th Congress and passed the House, with a much stronger chance of becoming law given the current political landscape.

SDI Productions

The SAVE Act: Addressing a Non-Existent Problem at the Cost of Voter Access?

In July 2024, I wrote about the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act when it was first introduced in Congress. And Sarah and I discussed it in an episode of Beyond the Bill Number which you can still listen to. Now, in April 2025, the SAVE Act has been reintroduced in the 119th Congress and passed the House, with a much stronger chance of becoming law given the current political landscape. It's time to revisit this legislation and examine its implications for American voters.

Read the IssueVoter analysis of the bill here for further insight and commentary.

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Independent Voters Gain Ground As New Mexico Opens Primaries
person in blue denim jeans and white sneakers standing on gray concrete floor
Photo by Phil Scroggs on Unsplash

Independent Voters Gain Ground As New Mexico Opens Primaries

With the stroke of a pen, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham enfranchised almost 350,000 independent voters recently by signing a bill for open primaries. Just a few years ago, bills to open the primaries were languishing in the state legislature, as they have historically across the country. But as more and more voters leave both parties and declare their independence, the political system is buckling. And as independents begin to organize and speak out, it’s going to continue to buckle in their direction.

In 2004, there were 120,000 independent voters in New Mexico. A little over 10 years later, when the first open primary bill was introduced, that number had more than doubled. That bill never even got a hearing. But today the number of independents in New Mexico and across the country is too big to ignore. Independents are the largest group of voters in ten states and the second-largest in most others. That’s putting tremendous pressure on a system that wasn’t designed with them in mind.

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"Voter Here" sign outside of a polling location.

"Voter Here" sign outside of a polling location.

Getty Images, Grace Cary

Stopping the Descent Toward Banana Republic Elections

President Trump’s election-related executive order begins by pointing out practices in Canada, Sweden, Brazil, and elsewhere that outperform the U.S. But it is Trump’s order itself that really demonstrates how far we’ve fallen behind. In none of the countries mentioned, or any other major democracy in the world, would the head of government change election rules by decree, as Trump has tried to do.

Trump is the leader of a political party that will fight for control of Congress in 2026, an election sure to be close, and important to his presidency. The leader of one side in such a competition has no business unilaterally changing its rules—that’s why executive decrees changing elections only happen in tinpot dictatorships, not democracies.

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