Press Release

Today, Common Cause delivered petitions from over 98,000 Americans to PBS urging the nation’s public broadcaster to televise the full impeachment hearings of President Trump in prime time.

With increased public scrutiny of the security, accessibility, fairness, and overall integrity of voting and elections as we approach 2020, Sylvia Albert joins Common Cause as its National Director of Voting & Elections. Albert brings more than a decade of professional experience in public interest law and public policy campaigns expanding ballot access, reducing barriers to participation, and combating voter intimidation among historically disenfranchised communities. She has also done extensive work on fair housing issues serving as a program analyst and an advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in the Obama Administration.

Today’s vote is a defining moment for every member of the U.S. House of Representatives. History is watching as Republican Members will weigh the choice of casting a vote for their country or for their party. Amidst a growing list of witnesses testifying about shocking abuses of power by the Trump administration and the president’s inner circle and seismic shifts in public disapproval of the president’s conduct, this is the first time many Members will be asked to cast a formal vote that will put them on the right—or wrong—side of history.

With a floor vote expected later today, Common Cause and it’s 1.2 million members continue to strongly urge every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote “yes” on the SHIELD (Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy) Act (HR 4617). In a Monday letter to Representatives, Common Cause emphasized that the critical legislation will help safeguard our elections from the very real and ongoing dangers of foreign interference in our elections.

Ambassador Taylor’s testimony is the latest startling addition to the mounting evidence uncovered by the House impeachment inquiry as it looks into President Trump’s efforts to get the Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. These revelations are precisely why the impeachment inquiry is essential, and make clear why the White House has been stonewalling every effort to investigate its actions.

New Common Cause report explains how drawing electoral boundaries based on citizens over age 18 advantages whites and steals representation from people of color.