“How do they get anything done? Are the important decisions going to be deadlocked? The consequences of that, as we are learning, could be devastating,” said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina.

Early voting polling sites and schedules must be approved by the unanimous support of a county election board under current law, Phillips said. If a member of the county board objects, the state board must decide. If it cannot, he said, current law says the only early voting site would be the county board...

Julia Vaughn, executive director of the nonpartisan political watchdog group Common Cause Indiana, pointed to one indicator of a healthy democracy.

"Voter turnout is one of the ways that we judge whether or not you have a vibrant democracy," said Vaughn. "You know, are people participating? Do they want to come out and make their voices heard through the electoral process?"

Vaughn said it's more proof that concern is growing as the next presidential contest draws near.

"People have had a sense of...

"Allowing New Yorkers to vote by mail increases voter turnout in harder to reach populations, including young people and voters of color," said Common Cause New York in a statement released the day the bill passed. “(N)ot only is this absolutely legal under our constitution, but the right thing to do."

“These things take time. You don’t just earn the public trust overnight,” said Pedro Hernandez, the Legal and Policy Director for California Common Cause, a voting rights and government transparency group. “We have to show the county’s voters that we are taking concerns seriously.”

In Hernandez’s view, the buck must ultimately stop at the Board of Supervisors. An oversight commission may ultimately help bring light to concerns and potential election issues, but it does not have the authority to resolve those issues.

"It was very shocking to see this attempt to have artificial entities have voting rights," said Claire Snyder-Hall, executive director of Common Cause Delaware, a watchdog group.

"We're seeing voter suppression all over the county, and this is the flipside," she added. "It's not saying the residents of Seaford can't vote, but it's diluting their votes by allowing nonresidents to vote."

"Allowing New Yorkers to vote by mail increases voter turnout in harder to reach populations, including young people and voters of color," said Susan Lerner of Common Cause-NY. "We know vote by mail works: New York did it successfully in 2020 when faced with the COVID-19 pandemic ... not only is this absolutely legal under our Constitution, but the right thing to do."

« Nous avons vu… des candidats repousser vraiment les limites ici, et il y a eu une augmentation des super PAC à candidat unique », a déclaré Stephen Spaulding, vice-président de Common Cause, un groupe dédié à la réduction de l'impact des intérêts particuliers au sein du gouvernement et de la politique.

« Vous avez des super PAC qui fonctionnent essentiellement comme des bras de campagnes – sauf qu’ils peuvent prendre des sommes d’argent illimitées de presque n’importe quelle source », a déclaré Spaulding.

« Il est temps que le Congrès intervienne et adopte une loi pour préciser que...

« Nous n'aurions aucun problème à ce que l'État mette en place un système conforme à la loi fédérale et obtienne l'adhésion d'un certain nombre d'autres États », a déclaré Julia Vaughn, directrice exécutive de Common Cause Indiana, qui a intenté la poursuite contre l'État. « Mais bonne chance pour ce faire avec un seul État sans réelle expertise en la matière et sans la réputation d'être une entité à laquelle les autres États devraient confier leurs listes électorales. »

The law was backed by the good governance organization California Common Cause, which described it as “a common sense and long overdue pro-democracy reform” that already exists in other states and in certain California cities.

Striking down the law would go against the “will of the people,” said Jonathan Mehta Stein, executive director of California Common Cause.

“This law protects Californians from the pay-to-play corruption and the appearance of corruption that plagues our cities and counties, and...

After April’s decision, Alaska became the 13th state to have its highest court interpret the state’s constitution to ban partisan gerrymandering. A further seven states have a statutory ban on partisan gerrymandering, according to Dan Vicuña, national redistricting manager at Common Cause, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that campaigns to end gerrymandering across the nation.

“Whether it happens in a red state or a blue state, a constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering is always a landmark victory for the...