Voting Rights

Today, Common Cause released a new report on more than two dozen ballot initiatives and state constitutional amendments to strengthen, and in some cases undercut, democracy that will be decided by voters at the state and local level in November. “Democracy on the Ballot” traces the growing momentum behind citizen-driven pro-democracy reforms in recent years and examines initiatives and amendments on ballots in the 2018 general election from Florida to California and from North Dakota to New Mexico and urges support or opposition to each.

"The population in the state has increased and grown above the national average," Atlanta-based attorney, and Common Cause Board Member, Emmet Bondurant recalled thinking. "And yet the number of registered voters [was] going down."

But most versions of the meme suggest insisting on a receipt as well. A receipt allows voters to follow up and check if their vote has been counted, said Allegra Chapman, senior counsel and director of voting and elections for Common Cause, according to Snopes.

Many formerly incarcerated people can vote, but they don't know it. Giving people returning to our communities a say in their future helps to distance them from the past. Common Cause proudly joins the Campaign Legal Center in an effort to register 25,000 people who are eligible to vote -- join us in creating hope in the future and imagine the moment when the people you help register put on an "I voted" sticker for the first time.

Today is National Voter Registration Day and Common Cause makes it easy to verify your vote and register if you need to. Even if you don't need to, here is why you should, and why you should share this Democracy Wire post on Facebook and Twitter urging your friends to do the same.

With Election Day now less than two months away, Common Cause released its 2018 Democracy Scorecard to chart the positions of every Member of Congress on issues vital to the health of our democracy. The reforms in question range from legislation to create a small donor matching fund system and increased disclosure requirements for outside political groups to bills to curb gerrymandering and strengthen the protections in the Voting Rights Act.