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Voting & Elections

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Voting & Elections 02.24.2021

Inside Sources (Op-Ed): Why We Need the “For the People Act”

We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass a new law, based on countless democracy reforms passed and successfully implemented in states across the country, the For the People Act. The bill, which will go to a vote of the full House the first week in March, includes provisions that will end secret, unaccountable money in politics, help ensure every voter, regardless of their race, ethnicity, age, or ZIP code, has equal access to the ballot box, end partisan gerrymandering, and strengthen conflict of interest and ethics laws for public officials. The For the People Act, designated as H.R. 1 and S. 1 in Congress, is the most comprehensive pro-democracy bill introduced in Congress since the Watergate era. It is the bold action that the American people want and deserve. 

Voting & Elections 02.22.2021

USA Today: Dissent by Justice Thomas in election case draws fire for revisiting baseless Trump fraud claims

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at Common Cause, said the dissent appears to suggest that state supreme courts are not qualified to decide election issues in their state, which she described as a "direct violation" of the division of power between the states and federal government. "The state legislature does not have free reign to limit access to the ballot without judicial review," Albert said. "In this case, the court found that the laws as written in the current state of a global pandemic were unconstitutional infringements on the right to vote."

Voting & Elections 02.20.2021

Washington Post: State GOP lawmakers propose flurry of voting restrictions to placate Trump supporters, spurring fears of a backlash

Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, said she found one provision in the Fleming bill particularly loathsome: the ban on early voting on Sundays. Republicans said the measure is intended to level the playing field between wealthier counties that can afford to provide weekend voting hours and poorer rural counties that can’t. But Dennis, who is Black, said she sees a more nefarious purpose to the proposal, which would upend Souls to the Polls, a long-standing tradition in Black communities to vote right after church on the Sunday before election. “There is such pride in being able to dress up in your Sunday best and cast your ballot with your family and your community,” Dennis said. As a working single mother, Dennis said, she also believes that the proposal would eliminate options for voters juggling complicated schedules.

Voting & Elections 02.20.2021

Associated Press: Florida is a model for voting. The GOP wants change anyway.

“We cannot comprehend where they’re coming from,” said Anjenys Gonzalez-Eilert of Florida Common Cause, noting the GOP has long been a supporter and beneficiary of mail voting in the state.

Voting & Elections 02.19.2021

MSNBC The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell (VIDEO): GOP State Lawmakers Introduce 165 Restrictive Voting Bills

MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart and Mother Jones reporter Ari Berman discuss new proposed voter suppression legislation in Georgia and Common Cause Georgia executive director Aunna Dennis' criticism of the bill as "Jim Crow with a suit and tie."

Voting & Elections 02.19.2021

Reuters: Voting rights advocates decry 'devastating' Georgia measure limiting ballot access

More than 150 bills proposing new voting restrictions have been introduced in state legislatures since the November election, according to Sylvia Albert, voting and elections director for good-government watchdog Common Cause. “What we saw in this election was record turnout, and Republican legislators have responded by saying, ‘We didn’t actually want you to come vote,’” Albert said. Albert said her group is particularly concerned about new restrictions in states where Republicans control the governorship and both houses of the legislature, such as Georgia, giving Democrats less chance to block them.

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