Voting & Elections

Voting is one of the fundamental ways Americans can make their voices heard in our democracy. But too often, the process of registering to vote can be tricky, confusing, and complicated. That’s one of the reasons why Common Cause has a nationwide campaign to push for a new innovative reform to make the process of voter registration more convenient and secure. It’s called automatic voter registration (AVR).

“Judge Drain’s decision makes clear that the Michigan legislature intentionally discriminated against African Americans for partisan political purposes,” said Common Cause president, Karen Hobert Flynn.

Today a federal judge struck down a 2015 bill passed by the Michigan legislature and signed by Governor Snyder to ban straight-ticket voting. Common Cause joined the A. Philip Randolph Institute, the Democratic Party of Michigan, and Michigan voters challenging the law in court.

Kathay Feng, national redistricting director for Common Cause, which supports the ballot proposal, said, “This all-volunteer effort started so citizens could end a corrupt system in which self-interested politicians manipulate districts for political advantage behind closed doors. Now Michigan voters will have the opportunity to make their voices heard.”

Karen Hobert Flynn, the president of Common Cause, which joined in the lawsuit along with some black voters, called it a "big win for Michigan voters. The evidence in this case and Judge Drain's decision makes clear that the Michigan legislature intentionally discriminated against African Americans for partisan political purposes."

There are solutions to the problems of mass incarceration, and citizens in more and more states are mustering the political will to bring them about.