Brookings Institution: Veterans and democracy: Bridging divides and strengthening civic knowledge Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at Brookings recently hosted a two-panel discussion spotlighting veterans’ instrumental role in bettering America’s current civic and political landscape. Hear from our CEO and Co-Founder, Todd Connor
Reformation Series: A conversation with Jeff Clements of American Promise
Veterans for All Voters had the chance to connect with Jeff Clements, a patriot who is on a mission to pass a constitutional amendment to limit money in politics.
In this video we explore:
The overwhelming and bi-partisan desire of the American people to limit money in politics
How the Supreme Court overturned states ability to establish limitations on the role of money in politics, but how a constitutional amendment can change that
Historically speaking, how every 50 years our country enters an "Amendment Era" in which several amendments will be passed, and how our country is primed for such an era today"
News from the states
New Op-Ed from USMC Veteran and former Wisconsin Commerce Secretary, Dick Leinenkugel:
According to recent studies, more than 80% of districts for the United States House of Representatives across the country are either solidly Democratic or solidly Republican. By the time we reach the general election, a small group of voters has already decided the outcome of the election for all voters. The healthy competition in our general elections that our democracy needs is absent for most of our country.
Great news: The bipartisan bill for Final Five Voting (FFV) for Wisconsin’s federal elections has been introduced in the state legislature!
VAV Wisconsin state leaders helped secure support from fellow veterans in the state legislature, including: Senator Jesse James (R-Altoona), and Representatives Daniel Riemer (D-Milwaukee), and Tony Kurtz (R-Wonewoc) --- three of the five co-authors! Other co-authors include: Senator Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) and Representative Ron Tusler (R-Harrison). We are grateful for their leadership as co-authors. And, so far, we have 15 additional co-sponsors, for a total of 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats.
We are thrilled to announce the launch of veteransforalaskavoters.org Veterans for Alaska Voters seeks to support the broad coalition of voters coming together in support of better elections and better politics; from the Alaska Federation of Natives, to the AFL-CIO, to Republicans, Democrats and Independents who want government to work for the people.
Incredible New Research from the Unite America Institute – 3 Key Highlights:
Alaska’s new election system had the instant impact of granting all Alaska voters the right to vote for any candidate in every election — regardless of party — for the first time in over 20 years.
Because of its top-four nonpartisan primary system, Alaskans cast the highest share of “meaningful votes” in the nation: More than one-third of eligible voters (35%) cast meaningful votes to elect the state house. This represents a 58% increase over the state’s rate in 2020 (the final year that the previous partisan primary system was used) and shines in comparison to the 12% national average.
Alaska’s new election system made general elections more competitive.
A fairer election system in Alaska helped more independents win office - Sightline Institute
Open primaries and ranked choice voting likely led to greater political diversity in the Alaska legislature, while their effect on age, gender, and race was less apparent.
On 11/1, our Founder participated in a dynamic and informative event titled, “Who is the Independent Voter?” led by the Co-Directors of Arizona State University’s new Center for Independent & Sustainable Democracy, Jackie Salit (President of IndependentVoting.org), and Professor Thom Reilly.
Three nationally renowned political scientists presented groundbreaking research on Independent voters, highlighting that 59% of veterans ages 18-49, and 61% of young people (ages 18-24) do not identify with either major political party.
On 11/2, Arizona veterans joined our Founder and leaders of Voter Choice Arizona for a happy hour in downtown Phoenix. One of the Arizona veterans who attended served in Vietnam and she is in the Arizona veterans hall of fame.
Arizona will be an election reform battleground in 2024 because the state legislature is attempting to make the citizens’ initiative petition process more difficult to use, ban the use of ranked-choice voting and—even though over one-third of Arizona’s voters identify as independent—make partisan primaries permanent, via the state constitution.
In a time of hyper-partisanship, the last thing we need is to further embed our two major, private political parties more deeply in between voters and their government.
Voter Choice Arizona is starting to gather signatures for a citizens’ initiative for equal ballot access for all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, and Final 5 Voting