News Clips

The good government group Common Cause is monitoring voting concerns around the country. Its president, Karen Hobert Flynn, said most of the problems reported to date are fairly typical. "We are waiting to see what else will come out," she said.

"I think we're a seeing a groundswell of public interest in government, including how campaigns are funded, even how we draw our (legislative and congressional district) lines," says Elena Nunez, director of state operations and ballot measure strategies for Common Cause and one of the authors of the report. "I think that some of it is a reaction to the hyper-polarization" in the country now, Nunez adds. "People are paying attention to not just the game, but the rules of the game. We are seeing a shift, and some great opportunities to increase participation and give some voice to the people," Nunez says. "People are coming together to say there's a better way to do this."

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, previously worked for a good-government advocacy group in California, giving her a clear picture of the states' contrasting policies. "I've worked in the two extreme examples of how much dysfunction there can be," she said. "In California, there's too much direct democracy and in New York there's none. Neither is the right solution. I came out of California feeling its initiatives were out of control — and now I'm nostalgic for them," recalling instances when California lawmakers would tackle difficult issues to defuse a potential initiative campaign.

“There is no good reason why New York doesn’t have early voting; our elected officials have decided, at least up until now, that it’s not worth the trouble,” said Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, a nonpartisan group advocating for improvements to the state’s voting system. “The most logical explanation is: It’ll be expensive or complicated for the counties. It’s uniformly popular in every other state that has it, whether it’s a red state or a blue state,” she added. “The public likes it, election administrators like it, so it’s an embarrassment — to be blunt — that New York is not willing to assist voters in providing early voting.”

Heather Ferguson, executive director of New Mexico Common Cause, said an ethics commission will help build trust in government. Aside from investigating possible corruption, she told the Santa Fe New Mexican that a commission would serve as an educational tool for officials seeking to avoid violating laws. She said the panel should be able to provide opinions much faster than the state attorney general's office, which also weighs in on questions from lawmakers and others.

"Initiatives are a good thing overall," said Aaron Scherb, director of legislative affairs for the government watchdog group Common Cause. "But nefarious tactics are sometimes used by both parties to try and hijack the process ... to get a certain outcome in certain elections." Scherb said partisan use of the measures is growing. It's a tactic that can be especially potent in midterm elections, where turnout is smaller — typically 40 percent, compared with 60 percent in a general election nationally.