<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>

<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;">&nbsp;giving Louisiana voters an invaluable resource for identifying their&nbsp;best&nbsp;political match November 4th. Four of the congressional candidates passed the 2014 Political Courage Test.</span>

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Throughout the past decade there has been a national trend of legislation on bullying.

There is one issue that only pops up every decade with noticeable consequences, and that issue is redistricting.

<br>