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Voting & Elections 10.6.2021

Houston Public Media/NPR: Texas legislation would allow partisan actors to request election audits

But Stephanie Gómez, associate director of Common Cause Texas, said the bill would create chaos in the election system. "The process creates confusion and distrust in our democracy, inflames suspicion in the myth of rampant voter fraud, and keeps alive the hopes of those who were so consumed with sowing disbelief in our democracy and chasing conspiracy theories that they literally led an attack on the U.S. Capitol not even a year ago," Gómez said.

Voting & Elections 10.5.2021

Senate Introduces & Must Pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to Protect the Freedom to Vote from Racial Discrimination

Every American deserves the freedom to vote regardless of our color, background or zip code, but that freedom is under siege in many states. The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, introduced in the Senate today, will protect the freedom of every American to cast a ballot and have a say in decisions that impact our lives—from combatting the pandemic to creating jobs to making health care affordable.

Voting & Elections 10.5.2021

Austin American-Statesman: Texas Senate begins work on election audit, voting felony bills

"This decision to inject partisan politics into our elections process will only sow doubts in our democracy, distract and divide us, and stick taxpayers with these giant bills," said Stephanie Gómez, associate director of Common Cause Texas. "Texans deserve better than to have our ballots serve as fuel for an election conspiracy," she said.

Voting & Elections 10.3.2021

Inside Sources/Tribune News Service (Op-Ed): 2020 Election Audits: Bad for Public Trust, Good for Fundraisers

Those who are manufacturing doubts about our election results have a strong profit motive: they need to keep the doubts alive to keep the dollars flowing.  But the rest of us can stop falling for their scam, and stop subsidizing these unfounded attacks on America’s elections.

NPR (AUDIO): Redistricting: What Happens When The Party With Power Gives Themselves More

STEPHANIE GOMEZ: So, you know, we got the text. Like, the maps are out. These are the maps that we have been waiting for. CHANG: Stephanie Gomez is associate director of Common Cause Texas, a nonprofit that works on issues like voting and elections. She was waiting eagerly on Monday when Republican state lawmakers released their first draft of the new congressional map. GOMEZ: I don't know if I'm allowed to cuss, but it was very like, oh, hell, like, it's - the maps are out. It was just - everyone open up the maps, and let's just - let's take a look at everything. CHANG: So remember all that population growth we mentioned in Texas? It's been driven almost entirely by people of color. And it's the reason that Texas next year will gain two more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, where seats are allocated by state population. GOMEZ: Of course, our eyes were like, OK, we're supposed to get two opportunity districts for minorities. Let's see where they end up putting those. CHANG: When Gomez got a closer look at the new Texas maps, she saw what many Democrats expected and feared. You see, the state's new map would actually reduce the number of congressional districts where voters of color are in the majority, and the map would protect Republican incumbents who might have been vulnerable by packing their districts with even more Trump supporters. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which grades redistricting maps on things like how compact or competitive the districts are, gave the Texas congressional map a flat-out F. GOMEZ: It's so hard to be a Texan who is fighting for an equitable democracy. Like, we are constantly being met with our deepest, worst fears.

Houston Chronicle: Over 1 million Houston voters change congressional districts under GOP redistricting plan

“With 95 percent of Texas population growth in the last decade coming from communities of color, our new congressional districts clearly should have been created to provide them the ability to elect their candidates of choice,” said Anthony Gutierrez, the executive director of the good government group Common Cause Texas. “That did not happen because these mapmakers prioritized the interests of their own political party over those of Black and brown Texans.”

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