News Clips

“Our democracy is not a chaotic free-for-all in which anyone can be elected. The voters are entitled to decide within the framework of the applicable rules,” the good government group Common Cause wrote in an amicus brief supporting the challengers. “If Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment (“Section 3”) is not enforced in this case, there is a genuine risk that our system of government will not survive,” they wrote.

Common Cause reminds the Court that the Constitution possesses checks and balances for the very expressed purpose of preserving constitutional order. Their brief highlights many restrictions on who voters can select including restrictions on age and term limits. They aver that elections must follow the rules laid in the Constitution and the Court must not shy away from public pressure to ignore their duty to the Constitution. The Framers of the Constitution recognized that protecting democracy would require “uncommon portion of fortitude” when going against “the major voice of the community,” Common Cause argues .

We should all be able to go to work each morning without the fear that we won’t make it home to our loved ones. But our election workers don’t have that security right now, and it is our collective responsibility to change that.

"Moving local elections to even years will boost turnout, reduce voter fatigue, and minimize stressors on the local boards of elections,'' said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York.

Anne Herring, policy analyst for Common Cause Georgia, raised concerns about the latter provision. “The governor and lieutenant governor get to vote on whether their own races will be audited,” Herring told LaHood’s committee. “That’s a little concerning to me in terms of public confidence in elections.”

According to Catherine Turcer, the executive director of the government watchdog group Common Cause Ohio, which is part of the Citizens Not Politicians coalition, the group has trained about 2,000 volunteers to collect petition signatures. “It’s clear there’s this disconnect between what it is that ordinary Ohioans want, and what it is that the state legislature chooses to do,” said Turcer. “There is real interest in ensuring that we have accountable government.”