Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Many Parkland survivors’ ballots went uncounted in 2018

Students who survived the mass shooting last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., have become some of the most prominent and politically active gun control advocates in the country. But they seem to have had a tough time getting their votes counted.

Fully 15 percent of mail-in ballots cast by Parkland's college-age voters in last year's midterm election were rejected or failed to arrive in time to be counted, according to an analysis of state voting records by Daniel Smith, chairman of the political science department at the University of Florida. The statewide figure for voters 18 to 21 was 5.4 percent of mail-in ballots rejected or uncounted and the overall statewide share was 1.2 percent, Smith noted.


The numbers were reported by the Washington Post, which said the situation in Broward County highlighted questions about the fairness of the Florida electoral system, which includes a very struct signature match standard that some college-age voters clearly failed to meet. "If you are voting in Florida, and you are young in Florida, you have a good chance of your ballot not being accepted," the professor said. "Imagine going to the ATM, and every 10 times you go, instead of spitting out your money, they take it or they lose it."


Read More

Kalshi Wants to Help Americans Hedge Risk. Lawmakers Say It’s Just Gambling with a Different Name

Senator Adam Schiff, D-Calif, speaks at the Brookings Institution panel to make the case for regulating prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket

(Erika Tulfo, Medill News Service)

Kalshi Wants to Help Americans Hedge Risk. Lawmakers Say It’s Just Gambling with a Different Name

WASHINGTON – Prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are facing mounting pressure in Congress as lawmakers debate whether the platforms should be treated as financial exchanges or gambling operations.

The platforms allow users to bet on real-world events from sports to politics, which are classified as a type of financial derivative overseen by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman with an empty wallet spent on shopping. Bankrupted woman sitting with her shopping bags

President Donald Trump says Americans’ financial struggles matter “not even a little bit” as inflation rises, gas prices surge, and a controversial $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded compensation plan for political allies emerges.

Getty Images, Twenty47studio

Trump Says Americans’ Pain ‘Doesn’t Matter’ as $1.7B Aids His Allies

Perhaps the most effective ad in the 2024 campaign was “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.” Since that ad ran, the American people have learned that it is anything but true.

With gas prices having surged 28% in two months, inflation climbing to a three-year high of 3.8%, and the average family is spending an estimated $5,000 more this year than last due to rising costs across the board, a reporter asked Trump a simple question: To what extent are Americans’ financial situations motivating him to reach a deal to end the war in Iran?

Keep ReadingShow less
The dome of the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., stands tall against a blue sky with the American flag waving proudly

Congress faces growing pressure to pass redistricting reform as lawmakers debate banning gerrymandering, independent commissions, and mid-decade map changes amid renewed national controversy over fair elections.

Getty Images, aire images

Congress's Missed Opportunities on Redistricting Reform

On April 29, Issue One posted an image on Facebook and Instagram: CONGRESS CAN FIX THIS WITH THREE SIMPLE STEPS:

  1. Establish Clear National Criteria for Fair Maps
  2. Require Independent Redistricting Commissions in Every State
  3. Ban Mid-Decade Redistricting.

Issue One added below: “… but it needs 60 Senate votes to do it.”

Keep ReadingShow less
A group of people wait in line to get their ballots to vote in the election.

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could reshape presidential elections as Midwest states debate Electoral College reform, political polarization, and the future of winner-take-all voting in America.

Getty Images, SDI Productions

700+ Proposed Amendments Failed, Midwest Voters Can Succeed

The Midwest served as the vanguard and ideological heartland of the Progressive Era, acting as a crucial laboratory for political, social, and economic reforms that later adopted national significance. Midwestern states (the cradle of the movement) pioneered anti-monopoly efforts, democratic, and social improvements.

After 770+ failed proposed U.S. Constitutional Amendments (the most on record for one issue) to remedy the factionalism (21st century polarization) feared by the Framers of the U.S. Constitution.

Keep ReadingShow less