Statement of Karen Hobert Flynn, Common Cause President: “’Contrived.’ That’s what the Supreme Court called the Administration’s trumped up explanation for adding the citizenship question on the 2020 Census. In documents that Common Cause received in the North Carolina state challenge, Common Cause v. Lewis, emails and reports created by Thomas Hofeller, the chief Republican redistricting mapdrawer, reveal the real reasons for the citizenship question – to make redistricting 'advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites.' Suspending the citizenship question is a step in the right direction.”  

Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in two landmark redistricting cases, Rucho v. Common Cause and Lamone v. Benisek. In a 34-page decision written by Justice Roberts, the majority concluded it could not set a constitutional standard against partisan gerrymandering. 

Common Cause is urging every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote “yes” on the Securing America’s Federal Elections (SAFE) Act (HR 2722) when it goes to a floor vote later this week. A Monday letter to Members emphasized that the critical legislation will help ensure that states and localities get the necessary resources and take key steps to make our election infrastructure resilient in the face of the ongoing attacks by hostile nation state actors.

Today, ten states attorneys general led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit to block the proposed T-Mobile-Sprint merger. The lawsuit argues that if approved, the merger would lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation for consumers. New York and California were joined in the lawsuit by Colorado, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, Virginia, and Wisconsin

Today marks the one year anniversary of the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality. Since the repeal, broadband service providers have been free to block, throttle, or create fast lanes and slow lanes by charging websites extra fees to prioritize their content. Since the repeal, there’s been evidence of broadband service providers throttling speeds, degrading video quality, and creating service plans that favor their own services over competitors.

Previously undisclosed documents obtained by Common Cause in its North Carolina partisan gerrymandering lawsuit were filed today in the federal action challenging the addition a citizenship question to the 2020 Decennial Census. The documents, which were filed by the private plaintiffs in Department of Commerce v. State of New York, reveal for the first time the secret role played by the longtime Republican redistricting expert, the late Dr. Thomas Hofeller, in orchestrating the addition of the citizenship question and the Justice Department’s Voting Rights Act rationale for it. The documents further show that Dr. Hofeller concluded in a 2015 study that the citizenship question would significantly harm the political power of Latino communities and be “advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites.”