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Baltimore Sun (Editorial): Finding a better way to fill Maryland’s state legislative vacancies

Common Cause Maryland and others see a troubling pattern. You make friends with party insiders and your path to the State House is far easier. You get the appointment and then special interest money steered your way keeps you in the job. Other vacancies from state attorney general to comptroller to U.S. Senate seats get a special election (under a 2016 state constitutional amendment ratified by voters).

Boston Globe: Rejection of Ohio ballot measure signals democracy remains powerful motivator for voters

“Clearly, direct democracy was being attacked, because the ability to gather folks together and collect signatures and take issues directly to the ballot was really in jeopardy,” said Catherine Turcer, the executive director of Common Cause Ohio. “We would have been left with a right that couldn’t really have been used.”

Voting & Elections 08.8.2023

The Atlantic: The Abortion Backlash Reaches Ohio

“It’s this ‘Don’t tread on me’ moment where voters are being activated,” says Catherine Turcer, the executive director of Common Cause Ohio, a good-government advocacy group that helped lead the effort to defeat the amendment. “Voters don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the Ohio constitution. They probably don’t spend a ton of time thinking about voting rights,” Turcer told me. But, she said, “the attempt to dilute voter power so that it would impact a vote on reproductive rights made it really concrete, and that was important.” Republicans in Ohio, and in other states where similar ballot measures have flopped, are now confronting the limits of their power and the point at which voters will rebel. Their critics, however, are doubtful that Republicans will shift their strategy. “It’s unlikely that they will stop right away,” Turcer said. “It will take a number of defeats before they’re likely to understand that voters do not want to be taken advantage of.”

Voting & Elections 07.30.2023

Honolulu Civil Beat: Editorial Board Interview: Camron Hurt Of Common Cause Hawaii

The Civil Beat Editorial Board spoke on Tuesday with the program director of Common Cause Hawaii. Camron Hurt said the organization under his leadership will focus on elections, voting access, government transparency and campaign finance reform. Hurt began by explaining what Common Cause does.

Voting & Elections 06.22.2023

Mercury News: Can Alameda County recover from botched elections?

“These things take time. You don’t just earn the public trust overnight,” said Pedro Hernandez, the Legal and Policy Director for California Common Cause, a voting rights and government transparency group. “We have to show the county’s voters that we are taking concerns seriously.” In Hernandez’s view, the buck must ultimately stop at the Board of Supervisors. An oversight commission may ultimately help bring light to concerns and potential election issues, but it does not have the authority to resolve those issues.

Money & Influence 05.26.2023

The Mercury News: Court upholds California’s anti-pay-to-play law barring votes benefiting campaign contributors

The law was backed by the good governance organization California Common Cause, which described it as “a common sense and long overdue pro-democracy reform” that already exists in other states and in certain California cities. Striking down the law would go against the “will of the people,” said Jonathan Mehta Stein, executive director of California Common Cause. “This law protects Californians from the pay-to-play corruption and the appearance of corruption that plagues our cities and counties, and helps to restore faith in our leaders and our government,” he said.

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