Independent Voter News

Image: Alan Kotokon Alamy. Image license obtained and used by IVN Editor Shawn Griffiths. Eric Swalwell went from Democratic frontrunner in the California governor's race to political exile in a matter of days - and somehow nobody in Washington is surprised. Chad, Shawn, and Ethan break down why this "open secret" finally went public and who's really pulling the strings.

President Trump called Alaska's ranked choice voting system "disastrous" and "very fraudulent" on Friday. He gave his "complete and total support" to the repeal effort heading to Alaska's 2026 ballot. Strong words. No evidence. There is nothing fraudulent about Alaska's election system. Voters approved it in 2020. It survived a repeal attempt in 2024 by fewer than 800 votes. Every result has been publicly verifiable. Every count has been transparent.

Image: IVN Staff In California, almost $325 million has already been raised in support and opposition to a handful of direct democracy initiatives hoping to appear on the ballot on November 3, 2026. Across 17 active ballot measures, campaign committees have raised a combined $324,780,677 and spent $25,996,796 so far, not including any unpaid debts or loans, according to records provided to the public by the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Image: IVN Staff Breaking down Steve Hilton's Trump endorsement, why two Republicans advancing is never going to happen, and how Democrats may be using that fake threat to dismantle nonpartisan primaries altogether. Plus: the Swalwell rumors making waves before June 2nd, a Green Party candidate kicked off the ballot over tax returns, and where the massive undecided independent voter bloc actually lands.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 31 directing federal agencies to build a new citizenship-verification system for federal elections and requiring the U.S. Postal Service to begin rulemaking on new standards for mailed ballots.

Image: IVN Staff This week on the Independent Voter Podcast, California sheriff Chad Bianco seizes 650,000 ballots while running for governor, the Supreme Court takes on mail-in ballot deadlines that could invalidate millions of votes, and TSA agents walk off the job unpaid while Washington refuses a deal that's already on the table.

Impeachments. Wave elections. Gerrymandered maps. A stolen election that never was. Frustration with leadership. A health care bill that went too far. A president they loved. A president they could not defend. The reasons House members abandon their parties mid-term are as varied as the members themselves. Most land safely in the other major party.

ROCKLIN, Calif. — Kevin Kiley spent nine years in California politics as a Republican. He won an election to the State Assembly as a Republican. He ran in the Gavin Newsom recall as a Republican. He won a coveted congressional seat as a Republican and won it again two years later. But on March 9, 2026, he held a press conference and announced he was breaking up with the GOP.

Image: IVN Staff What happens when only a small percentage of voters actually decide elections? TSA delays and government shutdowns. This is the end result of a political system driven by closed primaries, low turnout, and strategic campaigning.

Assembly District 30 stretches along one of California's most storied coastlines, covering portions of San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and Santa Cruz Counties. The district includes the cities of San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Atascadero, Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, and Grover Beach in the south, running north through Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Seaside, Marina, and Capitola, along with Sand City, Del Rey Oaks, and a zero-population split of Watsonville.