Take Action

Get Common Cause Updates

Get breaking news and updates from Common Cause.

Take Action

Join the thousands across the country who instantly rally when there is a threat to our democracy.

Volunteer

Join the thousands across the country who instantly rally when there is a threat to our democracy.

Donate

Make a contribution to support Common Cause today.

Find Your State

Election Protection

  • Filter by Issue

  • Filter by Campaign

Voting & Elections 11.7.2022

WIRED: The GOP’s Strategy to Win the Midterms Is to ‘Overwhelm the System’

Jesse Littlewood, the vice president for campaigns with voting rights group Common Cause, told VICE News that while he has seen references to the plan to “overwhelm” the system pick up in recent weeks, he thinks that the idea is still relatively marginal. There are, however, dangers posed by the spread of this message, particularly the idea that people should vote as late in the day as possible. “The danger is that it could cause some of the voters who listen to this idea to miss their chance to vote,” Littlewood said. “If you believe that you need to vote late in the day on Election Day, if you have a family emergency, you could miss your opportunity to vote, so it could disenfranchise individuals who should have the right to participate in the election.”

Voting & Elections 11.7.2022

CNN: Avalanche of early lawsuits could pave way for disputes over Tuesday’s election results

“What we saw in 2020 was this effort to undermine the elections, but, for the most part, it happened after the elections,” said Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at the organization Common Cause, which advocates on democracy issues. “This time what we are seeing is the prep beforehand.” ... Albert, of Common Cause, said that the demands around the country that more Republican workers be hired could be a precursor for attempts after the election to attempt to toss out ballots from election sites in dispute. She said she’s worried that Republicans “are going to basically say, ‘If an election wasn’t run exactly perfect – if we didn’t have an even split of poll workers – then, all of those ballots don’t count,’ which is absolutely ridiculous and nonsensical. An election has never run perfect in the history of the world.”

Voting & Elections 11.7.2022

Washington Post: Election officials fear counting delays will help fuel claims of fraud

“I expect to see what we saw in 2020,” said Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for Common Cause, a nonpartisan voter education and advocacy group. “Election officials will be counting votes, some results will come in late and bad actors will be trying to play political games to undermine people’s confidence in the outcome.”

Voting & Elections 11.4.2022

Gray TV/KMOV (St. Louis): National security agencies concerned about increased threats and violence ahead of midterms

“The attack on Mr. Pelosi is deeply disturbing and part of a larger trend,” said Suzanne Almeida, director of state operations for Common Cause. he attack happened as a rise in threats against lawmakers investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police has doubled since the last midterm cycle, according to the Associated Press. The government watchdog group Common Cause says it is more concerned about this and not other election issues like voter intimidation because most states have systems in place to make sure voters can safely vote. “The Election Protection Coalition in most states has a plan to respond, will have volunteers at targeted polling locations, will be watching online for violent rhetoric, dis and misinformation,” Almeida said.

Voting & Elections 11.2.2022

Newsweek: How MAGA Election Watchers Are Scaring Away Voters

Suzanne Almeida, the director of state operations at nonpartisan watchdog Common Cause, agreed. "It's obviously something we're concerned about. Everyone has the right to vote free from intimidation [...] but this isn't a national wave of people who are armed at ballot boxes," Almeida told Newsweek. "As we are talking about it, if we are thinking there are armed people at drop boxes everywhere, it's going to make it less likely for voters to vote," she said. That is "doing the job of the folks who want to be intimidating for them." ... Almeida said if the ballot drop box a voter wants to use doesn't feel safe, they should head to a different one. She said it is likely too close to Election Day to post a ballot in the mail, but that in many states, people can turn it in at elections offices. "In several states, there's also a process where you can surrender your vote by mail or absentee ballot and then vote in person on Election Day, if that feels safer," she said.

Voting & Elections 11.1.2022

Washington Post: GOP push to monitor voting in Texas’s Harris County spurs outcry

Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of the nonpartisan voter education and advocacy group Common Cause Texas, said that while so far there have not been many complaints to his group’s hotline, he is concerned that poll observers could overstep in this year’s tense atmosphere. During a training last week, Gutierrez said volunteers reported seeing people without the required identification circulating at polling locations close to voters. One Black voter complained to the hotline that when he showed up to vote at a polling location at a southwest Dallas community college, a White man outside told him he had to first surrender his cellphone and smartwatch, Gutierrez said. He said the voter complied, cast his ballot and recovered his items, only to discover the man who seized them “was not a worker at that poll site. They were just trying to be intimidating.”

Join the movement over 1.5 million strong for democracy

Demand a democracy that works for us. Sign up for breaking news and updates.