She Quit Her Party. Then She Couldn't Vote. | Lisa Rice. - EP45

She Quit Her Party. Then She Couldn't Vote. | Lisa Rice. - EP45

Lisa D.T. Rice, the driving force behind DC's Initiative 83 to permit ranked choice voting and open primaries, joins the show to explain how a missing ballot turned her into one of the most relentless reformers in the country. She breaks down why closed primaries are really a voting-rights problem, how she took on two fights at once - open primaries and ranked choice voting - in the heart of a 95% one-party city, and how rooting reform in everyday issues like food deserts is what actually wins elections. Then comes the gut-punch: voters passed her initiative with 73%, and she still couldn't cast a ballot. Stick around for the protest she threw in response, the go-go song she commissioned to troll the city council, and the lawsuit threat she says she "wouldn't put past someone."  This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project [https://independentvoterproject.org] and produced by Olas Media [http://olasmedia.com].  Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us [https://ivn.us]  and https://independentvoterproject.org [https://independentvoterproject.org]  Follow and subscribe on audio platforms: https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R [https://open.spotify.com/show/1VnqtqjZh9EbmDtVxvHF3R]https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/independent-voter-podcast/id1680559155] Chapters: 00:00:00 – Why Independent Voters Are Shut Out of Elections 00:01:07 – Meet Lisa Rice and the Fight for DC Reform 00:03:10 – Discovering the Cost of Leaving a Political Party 00:04:21 – Open Primaries as a Voting Rights Issue 00:06:10 – Taking on Washington, DC’s Political Establishment 00:07:35 – How Initiative 83 Won with 73% of the Vote 00:09:47 – Connecting Election Reform to Community Needs 00:11:20 – Court Battles, Ranked Choice Voting, and What Comes Next 00:13:24 – The “Picket at the Thicket” Protest for Voter Access 00:15:28 – Building a Movement for Independent Voters and Reform Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Trump Says Fraud. Here's What ACTUALLY Happened in California. - EP44

This week, Chad, Shawn, and Cara break down the five-day vote count that knocked Spencer Pratt out of the LA mayoral runoff - and why "fraud" is the wrong story. Cara walks through her viral article on Tom Steyer's $216 million spend, the DSA/progressive turnout machine, and how legal ballot harvesting in high-density neighborhoods delivered the late surge for Nithya Raman. Then the crew zooms out to the California governor's race, the bad-faith attacks on top-two primaries, and the record independent (NPP) turnout nobody's covering. Plus: Maine's remarkably civil ranked-choice governor's primary, a fight over slow vote counts that even the New York Times is picking, and a court challenge that could revive open primaries in Oklahoma.  This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project [https://independentvoterproject.org] and produced by Olas Media [http://olasmedia.com].  Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us [https://ivn.us]  and https://independentvoterproject.org [https://independentvoterproject.org]  Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Chapters: 00:00:00 – Ballot Harvesting, Fraud Claims & the LA Mayor's Race 00:04:38 – How Ballot Harvesting Works & the Steyer Ground Game 00:09:25 – Progressive Alliances, Nonprofits & Unreported Spending 00:13:27 – NPP Voters Surge & the Real Purpose of Top Two 00:17:34 – California Governor's Race: Becerra & Hilton Advance 00:20:14 – Party Operatives, Media Bait & the Top Two Debate 00:24:50 – Maine Ranked Choice Voting & the Governor's Race 00:29:53 – California's Ballot Counting Timeline & the Postmark Debate 00:34:46 – Election Suspicion, Transparency & the Nine-Day Window 00:36:45 – Oklahoma's Open Primary Signature Fight Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Critics PROVED WRONG About the “Top-Two” Primary in California (It WORKS) - EP43

Fresh off the California gubernatorial primary, Chad, Cara, and Ethan break down why the "top-two will produce two Republicans" narrative was a manufactured fear - and why it collapsed the moment voters actually voted, with Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra heading toward a traditional R-vs-D general. They dig into who was pushing that panic and why (fundraising, juicing turnout, and a quiet war on top-two itself), including the uncomfortable detail that a party chair reportedly asked a leading minority candidate to drop out. Stick around for the bigger question the reform movement keeps dodging - and a pitch for what could come after top-two.  This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project [https://independentvoterproject.org] and produced by Olas Media [http://olasmedia.com].  Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us [https://ivn.us]  and https://independentvoterproject.org [https://independentvoterproject.org]  Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Chapters: 00:00:00 – Independent Voters Win the Jungle Primary 00:00:51 – California Primary Results: Hilton vs. Becerra & Steyer's $200M Loss 00:03:37 – Tom Steyer's Campaign: Ranked Choice Voting & Positive Politics 00:07:32 – What if California Had Top Four + Ranked Choice Voting? 00:09:33 – Latino Voters & the Open Primary: 80% Want to Keep It 00:11:45 – The "Two Republicans" Scare: Manufactured Fear & Biased Polling 00:14:47 – Why Both Parties Hate Top Two — and That's Exactly Why It Works 00:16:26 – Where Does the Right to Vote Come From? The Core Question of Reform 00:18:22 – Reforming the Reform: The Case for Top Four + RCV in California 00:22:13 – Republicans, Relevance & the Self-Inflicted Wound of Closing Primaries   Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

How Party Insiders KILLED Florida's Open Primary (57% of Voters Said YES) - EP42

57% of Floridians voted to open their primaries. They still lost. Chad Peace and Cara McCormick sit down with Political No Brainer host Jeff Rabinowitz to unpack how Florida's two-party system buries voting reform - and the closed-primary lawsuit now knocking on the Supreme Court's door.  This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project [https://independentvoterproject.org] and produced by Olas Media [http://olasmedia.com].  Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us [https://ivn.us] and https://independentvoterproject.org [https://independentvoterproject.org]  Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Chapters: 00:00:00 – Are Political Parties Just “Make Wrong Machines”? 00:01:03 – Meet Jeff Rabinowitz and the Political No Brainer Podcast 00:02:00 – Florida’s Closed Primaries and Independent Voters 00:02:51 – Why Florida Requires 60% for Constitutional Amendments 00:04:19 – Millions of Independent Voters Locked Out 00:05:29 – Why Independent Candidates Struggle in Florida 00:06:49 – The Florida Supreme Court Challenge on Voting Rights 00:09:11 – Is Florida Really as Partisan as the Media Says? 00:11:21 – Guns, Culture, and Political Identity in Florida 00:14:07 – Jeff Rabinowitz’s Advice for Independent-Minded Voters 00:16:18 – What Does It Mean to Be “Independent Minded”? 00:18:54 – Why Voting for Independents Matters Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Democrats and MAGA Are Working Together on THIS (Not What You Expect) - EP41

You'd think Democrats and MAGA Republicans agree on nothing - but they just quietly teamed up to do one specific thing: shut 7 million California independent voters out of the primary. We're naming names. Chad, Cara, and Shawn break down the bipartisan effort to undo California's top-two nonpartisan primary - with Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio and former CA GOP director Ron Nehring leading the charge, joined improbably by Lorena Gonzalez on the left and Carl DeMaio on the right. Politico just covered the More Choice California Coalition fighting back, and the crew gets into why "voter confusion" is a manufactured talking point. Chad lays out the 115-year reform fight, Cara walks through which constitutional candidates actually responded to IVP's survey (and which Secretary of State conveniently didn't), and Shawn covers DC's city council quietly defunding Initiative 83 after 73% of voters passed it.  This episode is sponsored by the Independent Voter Project [https://independentvoterproject.org] and produced by Olas Media [http://olasmedia.com].  Listen to more episodes and read in-depth coverage at: https://ivn.us [https://ivn.us]  and https://independentvoterproject.org [https://independentvoterproject.org]  Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Chapters: 00:00:00 – Are California Parties Trying to Shut Out Independent Voters? 00:00:33 – The Growing Fight Over California’s Top Two Primary 00:01:45 – Why Democrats and Republicans Both Want Control Back 00:03:03 – Polling, Political Strategy, and the Battle Over Open Primaries 00:04:30 – Why California’s Primary System Confuses Independent Voters 00:06:56 – The Real Strategy Behind Closed Primaries 00:08:00 – Who Owns Elections: Political Parties or the Voters? 00:09:42 – Is California Really Becoming a One-Party State? 00:12:53 – New Data Shows Independents Surpassing Republicans in California 00:15:29 – Candidates Respond to Independent Voter Rights Survey Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.