Independent Voter Podcast

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

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)

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)

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)

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.

The Bipartisan Plot to Lock 6.2 Million California Voters Out of Elections

Chad, Cara, and Shawn break down the brewing bipartisan campaign to repeal California's Top Two primary - exactly the move IVP has been predicting for months. They unpack the manufactured "two Republicans in the top two" panic, why Shirley Weber and party leadership keep siding against independent voters, and why the academic research (yes, including Cambridge) backs Top Two. Then Ethan drops fresh IVP polling out of LA - Spencer Pratt, Karen Bass, and a governor's race where Steve Hilton is suddenly playing for Trump's endorsement instead of reform. The conversation closes with gerrymandering, Prop 50 fallout, and why packing districts may have accidentally handed independents more power than ever.  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 – California Parties Push to Repeal the Top Two Primary 00:02:17 – Why Party Leaders Want Control Back 00:03:25 – The Fight Over Independent Voter Rights 00:05:04 – Closed Primaries vs. More Voter Choice 00:06:07 – Big Money, Party Power, and Democracy Claims 00:08:09 – How Top Two Changed California Politics 00:12:13 – The More Choice California Coalition Explained 00:14:02 – Alaska, Ranked Choice Voting, and Reform Momentum 00:17:16 – Polarization, Voter Exhaustion, and Broken Incentives 00:20:14 – New Polling, Independent Voters, and the 2026 Governor Race Support the show: https://ivn.us/podcasts/ [https://ivn.us/podcasts/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.