News Clips

“Putting all your eggs in one basket seems like a very bad idea—and it’s avoidable. We’ve seen what happened in the primaries,” said Sylvia Albert, the national director of voting and elections at the good-government organization Common Cause. ... Even in states that have dramatically expanded mail voting, cuts to in-person Election Day voting sites could lead to disenfranchised voters — and could disproportionately impact poor and nonwhite voters as well as younger voters who are less likely to live at the same address they did in the last election. “You cannot fault voters for being hesitant about vote-by-mail. Obviously I think it’s a great option, but that’s what it is — an option. Voters should be able to choose whichever way they want to vote,” said Albert, Common Cause’s national director of voting and elections.

There are several types of digital voting disinformation, such as giving the wrong time, place or manner of voting, according to democracy watchdog Common Cause. And during Covid-19, when normal routines are disrupted, online disinformation tactics are “much more believable and have a greater impact today than any other election cycle”, said Jesse Littlewood, vice-president at Common Cause, in a webinar.

“We’re holding our breath, and I’m concerned about lines at early voting places,” said Jay Heck, executive director of the nonpartisan voting rights group Common Cause in Wisconsin. “Every area - red counties and blue - there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm,” he said in reference to counties that lean toward either of the parties.

Common Cause manages grassroots voter protection field programs for the Election Protection coalition mentioned above. It works with organizations in all 50 states to identify election reforms at all levels of government, including expanding vote-by-mail and ensuring safe in-person voting with strict public health and social distancing guidelines. The organization has recruited more than 35,000 volunteers during the 2020 election through its Protect the Vote program (four times more than they saw during the 2016 election), according to its national media strategist David Vance. Common Cause also has an online tool to help people quickly find their representatives, how to contact them, bills they’ve introduced, committees they’ve served on and political contributions they’ve received to ensure you have all the information needed to vote.

Suzanne Almeida, acting executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, said she is aware of the technological challenges voters are facing as they try to register online and has petitioned the state to address it. “There are things that DOS [Department of State] can do to make sure those people are registered, and my understanding is they are taking those steps,” she said, adding that the situation is “not perfect” and is “the kind thing that could make it more difficult for folks to register to vote. For someone who is on the fence, they may decide not to bother.”