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IVN Daily Digest -- August 6, 2014

by Shawn M. Griffiths, published

1. Terry Goddard, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state in Arizona, describes how independent voters and candidates are disenfranchised by the current election system.

"Arizona encourages partisan voters to turn out, while our state treats Independent voters like second-class citizens. Our election system should empower every voter equally, but the treatment of Independents has been shoddy at best, malicious at worst and just wrong. Every registered Arizona voter whether Democrat, Republican, Independent or other, is standing up to say they want their voice to be heard."

Goddard says that if he is elected, he will make voting "easier and more accessible for all voters." However, he is speaking within the current primary election system. He is right, the system does not treat voters equally, but that should be an indicator that the system itself needs to change.

2. The Atlantic Journal-Constitution published a story about Libertarian candidate Jeff Amason, who is suing the state after he was denied ballot access in Georgia's 21st Congressional District.

"The Georgia Engineering Foundation president had collected 1,800 valid petition signatures, enough to be placed on the ballot."

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp's office disqualified a majority of the signatures because Amason's wife notarized and distributed many of the petition pages and signed the petition herself. According to the secretary of state's office, this violates a Georgia law that says the circulator of a petition may not sign the petition he or she notarizes.

3. Incumbent Kansas Senator Pat Roberts defeated his tea party opponent after a brutally fought primary campaign.

"In primary battles ahead of November's midterm elections, Roberts' showing marked a victory for an incumbent Republican, a pattern that played out more broadly as voters went to the polls in other U.S. states on Tuesday. Missouri, Michigan and Washington state also held primaries."

What many news sites and outlets are missing, however, is the opening this leaves for independent candidate Greg Orman. In a short period of time, Orman has garnered a considerable amount of funds and support to make it an interesting race in November.

4. The approval ratings for Congress have hit new lows.

"In a Washington Post-ABC News poll, 51 percent of Americans said that they disapprove of the way their own representative in Congress is “handling his or her job.” Forty-one percent approve of how their member handles his or her work, the lowest approval rating that The Washington Post and ABC News has found. This is the first time in 25 years that the number of Americans who disapprove of their own Congress member has risen to more than 50 percent, according to the Post."

In the past, it was not uncommon for a majority of Americans to be dissatisfied with Congress, but happy with their own representative. Now, a majority of Americans don't even approve of their own representative.

5. California Senator Dianne Feinstein wants the president to work with her on changing redactions that were demanded by the administration to a report on torture and the CIA.

"The California Democrat said she will seek a series of changes to mitigate redactions to the report’s summary made by the White House that have made the document essentially unreadable."

Arguably the biggest promise President Obama made in his first inaugural address that he has completely gone the other way on is his promise to be the most transparent administration in history, and this is just one more example of that.

What news stories have you been following?


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