Video Links and Quotes from Today’s Media Briefing #1: Election Day 2022 with Common Cause

Washington, DC—This morning, a panel of Common Cause’s national policy experts and state leaders briefed the media on the state of voting as Americans headed to the polls in the first few hours of Election Day 2022.  

If you missed today’s media briefing, you can view the recording here.  

To register for our next two briefings today and tomorrow, click here.

Select quotes from the briefing, in order of speakers, are below. 

Regarding Common Cause’s national election protection program:
“We have more than 20,000 volunteers registered to join us in protecting this year’s elections. That means we have nonpartisan volunteers ensuring every voter can have their questions and challenges addressed and any voting location problems solved around the clock today. We encourage all voters to use 866-OUR-VOTE if they encounter any kind of problem voting today,” said Marilyn Carpinteyro, vice president of programs and strategy at Common Cause. 

Regarding Election Day voting machine issues:
“What we’re seeing are challenges that we usually see on Election Day such as some voting machines going down causing longer lines or scanners not working so election workers are collecting paper ballots. Election administrators have learned from the past so there’s nothing majorly concerning this morning,” said Susannah Goodman, director of election security at Common Cause. 

 Regarding Common Cause’s youth poll monitoring program:
“We want to be sure that young and black youth have a friendly face to turn to if they encounter any challenges to voting on Election Day. We have more than 100 youth out at polling locations in Georgia, Maryland, and North Carolina protecting the freedom to vote for all, regardless of age, party, or location,” said Alyssa Canty, director of youth programs at Common Cause. 

Regarding poll openings in Pennsylvania:
“We are getting a few calls that are letting us know that some polls are opening up a little later in the in the eastern region of the state. But they will quickly open,” said Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania. 

Regarding voter turnout in Georgia:
“We’ve had lines at some locations, but nothing out of hand at this point and there haven’t been waits over 30 minutes. We’ve also seen things like folks taking pictures of our volunteers, but we always say that the more visible that we are, the more curious people are going to be about our Election Protection program,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia. 

Regarding voting conditions in North Carolina:
“Things are going well in North Carolina today. And that’s in credit to all of the people who’ve worked with us for the last 15 years to guarantee long early voting periods, guaranteed curbside access to voters with disabilities and the ability to easily get and return absentee ballots,” said Jane Pinsky, director of lobbying and government reform at Common Cause North Carolina. 

Regarding vote-by-mail concerns in Florida:
“About a third of the 700 calls that have been coming into Florida’s Election Protection hotline have been concerning vote-by-mail questions. We do want to make sure that our voters who have moved recently within the state or who have been displaced by Hurricane Ian or who have moved for any reason know that they can go today to their Election Day polling place for their new residence and change their address right there at the polls and vote with regular ballots,” said Amy Keith, program director of Common Cause Florida. 

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