Voting & Elections

“Every Texan needs should be able to safely register to vote and cast their ballot whether by mail or in person,” Anthony Gutierrez, Executive Director of Common Cause Texas, said in a statement. “The way we make that happen is to use these funds to implement online voter registration, expand vote by mail, extend early voting, recruit more election workers, and ensure all poll sites meets public health safety standards.”

The $400 million is welcome, but not nearly enough, said Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause. “Given the recent health crisis, states and localities immediately need significantly more resources to make critical investments to ensure that all voters can participate in free, fair, orderly and safe elections this year, or else millions of voters could be disenfranchised,” she said.

"I think we could see, worst-case scenario, millions of Americans disenfranchised and would not be able to have their voices heard or votes counted," said Aaron Scherb, director of legislative affairs at the nonpartisan government watchdog Common Cause. "We should really be able to get to a bipartisan solution to prevent the worst-case scenario from happening."

Congress’s revised Coronavirus emergency response package provides critical funds to address our public health crisis, offers a lifeline to struggling Americans, and makes a significant down payment toward safeguarding our democracy. Every American expects and deserves to have their vote counted and their voice heard in our democracy, and the $400 million in election funding for states and localities is a step in the right direction. That total is nearly triple what Senate Republicans proposed in their initial bill. However, given the recent health crisis, states and localities immediately need significantly more resources to make critical investments to ensure that all voters can participate in free, fair, orderly, and safe elections this year, or else millions of voters could be disenfranchised. These resources need to be made available as soon as possible to prepare for the health and safety concerns around upcoming primaries and general elections while offering all feasible methods of voting to give voters the chance to participate in the election.

Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, said she expected the legislature to be receptive to recommendations from voting rights advocates. But whatever happens, she said, officials must clearly communicate their decisions to the public. “People are sitting at home, and they are anxious,” Turcer said, arguing that confusion about elections “just compounds people’s worries” about the covid-19 crisis. “There are pros and cons of all sorts of decisions we could make here, but what we really do need is that clarity.”

The House Democrats’ Coronavirus emergency response bill introduced today takes vital steps to address the public health and economic emergencies and importantly takes steps to safeguard our democracy from this pandemic as well. Our elections are the lifeblood of our democracy, and every American expects and deserves to have their vote counted. Millions of American citizens are in danger of being disenfranchised by the Coronavirus pandemic if drastic steps are not taken. The Senate bill pushed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is woefully underfunded and amounts to only token gestures toward safeguarding every citizen’s right to vote. While it is only a small percentage of the overall relief package, the House bill invests $4 billion in our state and local elections to expand no-excuse absentee and early voting as well as providing vote-by-mail options during an emergency.