The Independent Voter Project (IVP) is a

501(c)(4) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...

United States nonprofit organization. It launched in 2006 with a $1 million grant from John Moores. IVP seeks to re-engage nonpartisan voters and promote nonpartisan election reform through initiatives, litigation, and voter education. The Independent Voter Project has a 501(c)(3) sister organization called the Foundation for Independent Voter Education (FIVE). All IVP Board Members serve as volunteers. IVP and FIVE are co-publishers of IVN.us, an open news site that caters to independent voters and focuses on election reform issues. IVP was founded by former California State Senator and Assemblymember

Steve Peace James Stephen Peace (born March 30, 1953) is an American writer, actor, and producer, best known for the ''Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!'' film series. A politician belonging to the Democratic Party, Peace served in the California State Assem ...

, a registered

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, former California Assemblymember Jeff Marston, a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and Dan Howle. Howle and Marston are the current co-chairs. Peace is no longer a board member but is still a financial contributor.

Activities

IVP is best known for authoring California's

nonpartisan blanket primary A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...

(top-two primary), which was enacted through Proposition 14 in 2010. Along with other political reforms, the top-two primary was credited with easing gridlock in state government. IVP authored Measure K to bring top-two elections to the city of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

; the measure passed in November 2016. In 2014, IVP was one of a group of plaintiffs (including IndependentVoting.org and seven individual plaintiffs who were unaffiliated with either major political party) who filed a complaint in federal court alleging that New Jersey's current closed primary election process violated the

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

and state constitutions. The plaintiffs specifically claimed that closed primaries violated their

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

right not to associate with a political party, and also claimed that the state constitution barred the state government from allocating money for the administration of primary elections. The IVP was unsuccessful; the complaint was dismissed in 2014 by the

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (in case citations, D.N.J.) is a federal court in the Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the ...

, and in 2015 this decision was affirmed by the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * Ea ...

. In 2016 and 2017, the IVP filed two

amicus brief An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...

s in support of the plaintiffs in the case ''Level the Playing Field, et al. v. Federal Election Commission''. The plaintiffs (the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

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, and others) allege that the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

violated the Administrative Procedure Act in dismissing two administrative complaints regarding the

Commission on Presidential Debates The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a nonprofit corporation established in 1987 under the joint sponsorship of the Democratic and Republican political parties in the United States. The CPD sponsors and produces debates for U.S. pre ...

and "in denying a petition to engage in rulemaking to change the FEC's regulations regarding debate staging organizations."

References

{{reflist Electoral reform groups in the United States 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations Political organizations established in 2006