News Clips

Kathay Feng, national redistricting director for Common Cause, which supports the ballot proposal, said, “This all-volunteer effort started so citizens could end a corrupt system in which self-interested politicians manipulate districts for political advantage behind closed doors. Now Michigan voters will have the opportunity to make their voices heard.”

Karen Hobert Flynn, the president of Common Cause, which joined in the lawsuit along with some black voters, called it a "big win for Michigan voters. The evidence in this case and Judge Drain's decision makes clear that the Michigan legislature intentionally discriminated against African Americans for partisan political purposes."

There are solutions to the problems of mass incarceration, and citizens in more and more states are mustering the political will to bring them about.

"The presence of these modems in the tabulator means that they are connected to the internet, and therefore present a tangible risk to the integrity of our voting system. The presence of these modems in the absence of a well-defined strategy for mitigating the risk they present, undermines confidence in the voting system,″ said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island.

The North Carolina case has an element not present in the Wisconsin or Maryland cases. Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, called it the "so-called smoking gun."

Damon Effingham, acting director of the government watchdog group Common Cause, described the incident as "a catastrophic failure" of access to voting. "For decades, the MVA has been one of the main avenues for Americans to register to vote," Effingham said in a statement. "Tonight's news represents a catastrophic failure by the MVA in their duty to ensure every eligible Marylander has access to their right to vote." Effingham pointed out that the provisional ballots won't be counted until the second Wednesday after Tuesday's primary.