Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

New York City allowed to move ahead with its first ranked-choice election

New York City
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

New York City can move forward with its debut of ranked elections in seven weeks, because a state judge has turned back arguments the system would effectively disenfranchise minority voters.

The nation's biggest city has become the most populous and prominent place in the nation to embrace ranked-choice voting, an alternative election system hailed in the democracy reform world as a topflight way to combat polarization in governance.

Six members of the City Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus and other community organizations sued this month to delay its implementation, arguing election officials do not have enough time to ready the switch and educate voters about the new system. But with three-quarters of voters having approved RCV a year ago, supporters labeled that an attempt to subvert the will of the people.


State Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead did not go that far Wednesday. Instead, she ruled a delay could disenfranchise military voters, whose ballots are scheduled to be mailed Friday for a Feb. 2 special election to fill a vacant council seat in Queens.

"This court is disinclined to take any action that may result in the disenfranchisement of even one voter or take any action that may result in even one voter's ballot being nullified," she wrote in her three-page ruling.

Under the new system, New Yorkers may rank up to five candidates in order of preference in primaries and special elections. If no candidate wins outright by securing a majority of top-choice votes, an instant runoff takes place. The person listed No. 1 on the fewest ballots is eliminated, and the second-choice votes on those ballots are counted instead. The process continues until one person emerges with a majority of support.

But as the debut draws near, opponents have raised concerns that election officials are far from ready and that people in minority communities will be especially harmed. City Council critics point to an array of Board of Elections mishaps this year, including ballot delivery delays, erroneous ballot envelope mailings and long lines at polling places.

The elections board plans to start its public education campaign and training of poll workers in two weeks. RCV advocacy groups are also helping to inform voters about the new system.

While it's likely the judge's ruling will be appealed, supporters of ranked-choice voting are still celebrating this win. They see the new system as boosting overall turnout and bolstering the chances of nonwhite candidates.

The main event for RCV next year will be the city's Democratic mayoral primary in June, which will be tantamount to picking a successor to the term-limited incumbent, Bill DeBlasio. More than a dozen people are expected to join the field, and the new system will assure none of them gets the nod with a small share of the vote. Still, at least two of the most prominent candidates, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Black business executive Ray McGuire, have become critics of RCV in recent weeks — arguing it has the potential to suppress the Black and Latino vote. Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who has signaled he plans to run for mayor, endorsed ranked-choice voting while seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

Read More

Congress at sunset
Sunlight Foundation, a transparency trailblazer, closes after 15 years
Bill Clark/Getty Images

America’s ‘Do Nothing Congress’ Investigation Failures Under Trump 2.0

The month of August is widely recognized as the ideal time for relaxation and rejuvenation. America’s 535 delegates to the U.S. Capitol started their annual summer recess on Aug. 4 and will not return to D.C. until Sept. 1.

This four-week respite should give our elected delegates time to reflect on their achievements since President Donald Trump started his 2.0 administration on Jan. 20. And, hopefully, the four-week break will give our legislators time to consider how they’ve come up short in representing their 340 million constituents and honoring the principles of the U.S. Constitution, which they took an oath to uphold and defend.

Keep ReadingShow less
shallow focus photography of computer codes
Shahadat Rahman on Unsplash

When Rules Can Be Code, They Should Be!

Ninety years ago this month, the Federal Register Act was signed into law in a bid to shine a light on the rules driving President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal—using the best tools of the time to make government more transparent and accountable. But what began as a bold step toward clarity has since collapsed under its own weight: over 100,000 pages, a million rules, and a public lost in a regulatory haystack. Today, the Trump administration’s sweeping push to cut red tape—including using AI to hunt obsolete rules—raises a deeper challenge: how do we prevent bureaucracy from rebuilding itself?

What’s needed is a new approach: rewriting the rule book itself as machine-executable code that can be analyzed, implemented, or streamlined at scale. Businesses could simply download and execute the latest regulations on their systems, with no need for costly legal analysis and compliance work. Individuals could use apps or online tools to quickly figure out how rules affect them.

Keep ReadingShow less
An Open Letter to the Department of Education
Committee of Seventy Engages Over 23,000 Students in Civic Education Statewide
Getty Images, Maskot

An Open Letter to the Department of Education

Children—Black, white, brown, immigrant, and native-born—crowded around plastic tables, legs dangling, swapping stories, and trading pieces of their lunches. I believe that the dream of the Department of Education was to build a country where a child's start in life doesn't determine their finish, where public education flings open the doors, not just for a few, but for all.

Our story didn't begin in isolation. The Department of Education was born in 1979, forged by decades of struggle and hope; by the echoes of Brown v. Board, the promises of the Civil Rights Act, and the relentless voices of parents and educators who refused to accept that opportunity could not be representative and equitable. The mission was bold and straightforward: make real the promise that public education is a right and a shared responsibility.

Keep ReadingShow less
Caution in the C-Suite: How Business Leaders Are Navigating Trump 2.0

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks alongside CEO of Cisco Systems Chuck Robbins (R) at the Business Roundtable's quarterly meeting at the Business Roundtable headquarters on March 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump addressed the group of CEO’s as his recent tariff implementations have sparked uncertainty that have helped fuel a market sell-off.

Getty Images, Andrew Harnik

Caution in the C-Suite: How Business Leaders Are Navigating Trump 2.0

In the first months of Donald Trump’s second term as president, his policies – from sweeping tariffs and aggressive immigration enforcement to attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion – have thrown U.S. businesses into turmoil, leading to a 26-point decline in CEO confidence.

Yet despite this volatility, many American corporations have remained notably restrained in their public responses.

Keep ReadingShow less