News Clips

Kathay Feng, national redistricting director for Common Cause, said once voting maps hit the courts, it becomes more difficult for citizens to weigh in on the process. Speaking at a redistricting seminar, she noted the best way to influence the process was through a ballot. "In some states where you have judicial elections, or there's a way to influence the judges that are chosen, it's making sure that there is a tremendous amount of voter education," Feng urged.

Thursday marks the first day of the Summit for Democracy, a virtual meeting of more than 100 heads of state dedicated to furthering democratic values. But lawyers have been sounding the alarm on the democratic experiment in the U.S. post-Jan. 6 as the country faces two crucial elections in the next four years. Host Scott Tong speaks with Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at the watchdog Common Cause, about these dangers.

There is no substitute for legislation, and the time to act is now. Recently, more than 150 democracy scholars wrote that “defenders of democracy in America still have a slim window of opportunity to act. But time is ticking away, and midnight is approaching.” If we are to lead by the “power of our example,” President Biden and senators must step up and do what it takes to pass these bills as quickly as possible. When our leaders embark on the year of action at the summit, this must be a top priority. Democracy is resilient, and they have the power to act. We cannot afford to wait.

“We’re an outlier in that we didn’t do anything this year, but it’s not that surprising because New England has been dragging on this issue for a long time,” Marion said. “Prior to the pandemic, we weren’t building the infrastructure necessary to push this,” Marion said. “We were working on voting rights but we weren’t building as much as we should have.”

Anthony Gutierrez, Texas executive director of Common Cause, said the lawsuit shows the need for Congress to preempt such “racially and partisan gerrymandered maps” by restoring the Justice Department’s authority to put Texas under a microscope on election plans. “While we are grateful for the involvement of the federal government, what we need to stop the five-decade cycle of having to take legal action every 10 years is for Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act,” he said.

The process as it stands empowers central committee insiders with choices that voters should make — choices that voters make in many other states. “The central committee does hold all the power,” Joanne Antoine, the executive director of Common Cause Maryland, has said. Common Cause Maryland is just one Maryland organization that supports reform.