You might have gotten a misleading piece of political mail from a group called “Protect Voters First” about California’s redistricting ballot initiative in November.  

I am posting this today to make sure you know the truth: Common Cause is not part of “Protect Voters First” and we didn’t authorize this mailing, period. 

In California and across the country, Common Cause has taken a hard look at what we’re up against – a president and party who want to end free and fair elections to preserve their grip on power, including by ordering Texas Republicans to draw up five new GOP districts. 

As a result, California Common Cause will not support or oppose drawing new voting maps for our state as a counterbalance.  

California’s leaders listened to Common Cause and followed our six fairness criteria for mid-decade redistricting – which means our focus for the upcoming special election will be election protection, voter education, and voter empowerment in the lead up to November 4. 

Now, the people spending millions to block these new maps are falsely implying we’re on their side — using a weeks-old quote from before we released our fairness criteria and before we made sure California’s response to Texas’s pro-Republican gerrymander met them. 

I want to be perfectly clear: California Common Cause’s sole focus in November’s special election is making sure our state’s voters have a voice – and that big money donors and out-of-state partisan interests don’t get to drown out the people. 

There’s a lot riding on how our state votes this November – for Californians, for the entire country, and for the future of American democracy. And unfortunately, I doubt this will be the last attempt to muddy the waters. 

So, I’m posting to make sure you know where we stand – and that you can always count on Common Cause to be a strategic, uncompromising, and reliable voice for the people. 

In Community, 

Darius Kemp, Executive Director
and the team at California Common Cause 

P.S. If you agree we can’t afford to leave anything on the table as we face down a would-be dictator, and if you agree that California voters, and nobody else, should decide on our state’s maps, please consider a contribution to California Common Cause today.