News Clips

“There’s a clear contrast here between the two visions for what each party views for going forward with American democracy,” said Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, a nonpartisan nonprofit. “One party wants to make it harder for Americans to vote and wants there to be more big money in politics, and the other party wants to make sure that all eligible Americans can vote and wants to make sure big money does not dominate politics.”

Common Cause of Delaware along with the American Civil Liberties Union both oppose the legislation that they say will dilute votes of minority residents. “We’re horrified and disappointed that this bill passed. Corporations have no place in our elections – full stop,” said Claire Snyder-Hall, executive director of Common Cause Delaware. “In a state with more registered businesses than residents, this bill gives wealthy outsiders the power to override the actual people of Seaford. Hopefully, it will not make it through the Senate.”

Claire Snyder-Hall, executive director of Common Cause Delaware, criticized the House vote, saying corporations have no place in elections. “In a state with more registered businesses than residents, this bill gives wealthy outsiders the power to override the actual people of Seaford,” she said in a news release.

In the federal case, Common Cause vice president Kathay Feng said her group’s lawsuit also is supported by the Alabama decision, despite focusing on a different section of law. “The Alabama ruling sent a very clear message that the court was going to look closely at the history of discrimination,” Feng said. “… Florida has a history of discriminating against black voters. And the impact was directly to take away the opportunity to vote from Black voters in the panhandle of Florida.”

"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."

“We’ve seen…candidates really pushing the envelope here, and there has been a rise in single-candidate super PACs,” said Stephen Spaulding, Vice President of Common Cause, a group dedicated to lessening the impact of special interests in government and politics. “You have super PACs essentially operating as arms of campaigns — only they can take unlimited amounts of money from nearly any source,” Spaulding said. “It’s time for Congress to step in and pass legislation to make clear that independent spending is supposed to be truly independent,” Common Cause’s Spaulding said.