Where Are Independents in 2012???

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INDEPENDENTVOTING.ORG NETWORKS

Did Independents Make a Mark in Iowa? (Jacqueline Salit, Executive Editor, The Neo-Independent magazine, Huffington Post) First, a closer look at the numbers. Independent voter participation in the GOP caucuses might have been up as compared with 2008, but the participation by independents as a whole was way down. In 2008, an estimated 66,000 independents came out to vote in both parties' Iowa caucuses, more than twice the number of independents who chose to vote on Tuesday. In 2008, 75% chose Democratic balloting, and 41% of those voted for Obama. In other words, the conspicuous feature of Tuesday's Iowa caucus was the number of independents who stayed home.
Why We Need To Care About The Iowa Caucus (Written by WFMY News 2 CBS-Greenville NC) In recent days, lots of attention has been directed towards the Iowa caucus. At nearly 1,000 miles away, North Carolinians may be wondering why this is important to them. WFMY News 2 spoke with Dr. Omar Ali, Independent Political Analyst and Historian at UNC Greensboro to bring you more information.
Independents, Third Party Candidates Mull Galbraith Legacy (by Phillip M. Bailey, WFPL News 89.3 Louisville) Kentucky independents and third party advocates are reflecting on the death of perennial candidate Gatewood Galbraith, who brought attention to candidates outside the two main political parties… Michael Lewis is chairman of Independent Kentucky, a non-partisan group that supports legislation to allow independents to vote in primary elections. He says Galbraith helped citizens who weren’t interested in either party get involved in the political process.
Mississippi Politics: Can Independents Help Reform? (Monica Betts, Politics365) One Independent Activist and Voter, Marla Nottingham of Brookhaven, MS, felt the election blues and decided she would petition for voters to have the right to vote in “open primaries” as Independents and vote for a politician of their choice whether Independent, Democrat or Republican. In 4 days Marla gathered 1,500 signatures in her home town.

Mississippi Open Primary Drive Goes to the Next Level

OPEN PRIMARIES
Tea party meet hears of open primary effort (Daily Leader - Brookhaven and SW Mississippi) Now, Marla Nottingham is moving from a petition to a full ballot initiative. Her goal is to bring a constitutional amendment opening up Mississippi's primaries to a statewide vote. Nottingham appeared Monday night at the first meeting of the Brookhaven Tea Party. Organizer Kendall Boutwell praised Nottingham's efforts and voiced support for them.

John Avlon: Closed Primaries Too Easily Hijacked by Ideologes and Partisan Hacks

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Christine O'Donnell: Exhibit A for getting rid of closed primaries (By John Avlon, CNN Contributor) The lesson: Closed partisan primaries are fundamentally unrepresentative. They're too easily hijacked by ideological activists and party hacks beholden to special interests. And because these local primaries are the gauntlet that candidates have to run, they lead directly to the culture of hyperpartisanship that now threatens to paralyze our capacity for effective self-government.
• Primaries now 'the elections' (LETTER Clarion Ledger) Whether it's called "open primaries," or just equal right to vote by everyone, we need a system that gives everyone an equal voice, rather than independents being shut out of the "primaries" where most officials are chosen, and then have to pick between two party hacks in the general election.

Will Oatis Runs as Independent for Mississippi Governor

MISSISSIPPI GOV RACE

• Mississippi voters pick Democratic governor nominee (By Jacob Batte, Reuters) DuPree will now face Republican Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant and independent candidate Will Oatis in the general election.


• DuPree wins Democratic governor nomination (Written by TERRY L. JONES, Hattiesburg American) Independent Will Oatis of Silver Creek is running a low-budget campaign for governor. Two rival factions of the Reform Party also want to put a candidate in the race, but the state Board of Election Commissioners has not yet decided which Reform candidate - if either - can run.

California Independent Redistricting; Mississippi Open Primaries

CALIFORNIA REDISTRICTING
California's voting lines of contention - Critics on the right and the left are finding fault with California's proposed new voting districts. (EDITORIAL LA Times)

OPEN PRIMARIES
Elections should be open to all (LETTER Clarion Ledger) If enough people get upset enough, we might be able to do some of these things in this state with initiative and referendum.