<p dir="ltr" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.38; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did you know that you may have to vote again in your primary if no candidate gets more than half the votes? If not, you may want to find out if this applies to you. </span> </p> <p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248); border: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> </p> <p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248); border: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example, there’s been such a close race for Jeff Sessions’ vacant Senate seat in Alabama that the Republican primary in August did not determine a winner. A </span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">primary runoff</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> between the top two Republican candidates, </span><a href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/57111/roy-moore" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="border: 0px; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Roy Moore</span></a><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/121424/luther-strange-iii" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="border: 0px; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Luther Strange</span></a><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, is scheduled for September 26. </span></span> </p> <p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248); border: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In over </span><a href="http://votesmart.org/elections" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">115 races</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that Vote Smart has already tracked in 2017, we have encountered other unconventional election practices that voters may not be aware of.</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Earlier this month, Mississippi held a </span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nonpartisan primary election</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for its </span><a href="https://votesmart.org/election/2017/L/MS/2017-state-legislative?stageId=R" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: inherit; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="border: 0px; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">State House Dist. 102</span></a><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> seat that will be determined by a</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> runoff election</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in October. </span></span> </p> <p dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> <span id="docs-internal-guid-8a1c319a-ab8a-fbe7-9e98-72251bf85c25" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"></span> </p> <p style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-size: 12.8013px;"><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most Americans participate in a</span><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"> first-past-the-post system</span><span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> where winners in primaries and general elections are decided by a “plurality”—the candidate with the most votes wins. Several cities and states across the nation, however, have adopted alternative election methods. Read on for a brief explanation of the unique election practices that are currently used at the state and federal levels.</span></span> </p>

&nbsp;<span style="font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">James Comey, health care, and foreign policy in under 140 characters. Read on to find out what has kept Congress and President Trump's Twitter account so busy.</span>

&nbsp;<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">Congress has been very busy in early 2017. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read further to find out what is happening on both sides of the aisle!</span>

<span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8012809753418px; font-style: normal; line-height: 19.2019214630127px;">Today, Vote Smart released the results of the National Political Courage Test to&nbsp;</span><a href="http://votesmart.org/voteeasy#.VbuQA7NVhHw" target="_self">VoteEasy</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8012809753418px; font-style: normal; line-height: 19.2019214630127px;">&nbsp;at&nbsp;</span><a href="votesmart.org" target="_self">VoteSmart.org</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8012809753418px; font-style: normal; line-height: 19.2019214630127px;">, giving California voters an invaluable resource for identifying their&nbsp;best&nbsp;political match November 4th. Twenty-eight congressional, state legislative and gubernatorial candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.</span>

The Keystone XL Pipeline: it's been dominating headlines for what seems like forever...

States across America considered legislation in their most recent sessions that would change voting and voter registration requirements.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> Over the past few years, the country has witnessed an abundance of legislation on both the state and national levels regarding same-sex marriage. </p>

<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A&nbsp; 20-year study of over 15,000 congressional candidates and their willingness to answer questions on the major issues</span></span>

<font face="Arial, sans-serif">We threw the spotlight on one of our returning interns, John, and asked him a few questions about his time, so far, here at the Great Divide Ranch... <br> </font>

&nbsp;<a href="http://votesmart.org/newsletter" target="_blank">Sign up now</a>&nbsp;to receive a copy of this monthly publication.

The February 26 shooting of&nbsp;Trayvon Martin&nbsp;has ignited a media firestorm surrounding so-called “stand your ground” or “castle doctrine” laws in the United States.&nbsp;

The US unemployment rate was published at 8.2% for the month of May, rising a tenth of a point from April's 8.1%. Here's what several congress members had to say about it...

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What if, following Super Tuesday, all four GOP candidates are still in the game and no clear frontrunner has emerged?&nbsp;

University of Southern California student, and current intern, David Hernandez discusses his experience working as a part of our research team.&nbsp;

The inability of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or 'Supercommittee',&nbsp;<a href="http://votesmart.org/blog/2011/nov/22/supercommittee-misses-deadline/" target="_blank">to come to an agreement</a>&nbsp;to reduce the United States'&nbsp;government debt by over one trillion dollars has prompted a significant&nbsp;response by both Democrats and Republicans.&nbsp;

The U.S. Congress Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction&nbsp;was established with the goal of improving both the short and long term financial outlook of the US and reducing the deficit “...by at least $1,500,000,000 over the period of fiscal years 2012 to 2021” But they missed their deadline...