News Clips

Quentin Turner, executive director of Common Cause Michigan, a voting rights group, said recounts are handled by election administrators who lack the authority to investigate criminal fraud. "Voter fraud is a crime and investigations into crime can only be done by law enforcement," Turner said.

Virginia Kase Solomón - Common Cause President and CEO Solomón, who came to Common Cause in February, has backed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a stalled effort to modernize the 1965 Voting Rights Act meant to combat voter suppression. First job: Blockbuster Video. Worst career advice she ever received: “To be more realistic about my goals because I was a teenage mom and I should be happy just to have a steady income.” Song currently on repeat: “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa.

Aaron Scherb Common Cause Senior Director, Legislative Affairs Scherb helps craft pro-democratic reforms in such areas as redistricting, campaign finance, and voting rights, coordinating with Congress members and allies on drafts for proposed legislation. Hometown: South Bend, Indiana. First job: Delivering newspapers for the South Bend Tribune. Lesson from that job: “People appreciated and often recognized the small things, like making sure their newspaper was fully wrapped in plastic when it was raining or snowing.”

Former FCC Commissioner and Common Cause Special Adviser Michael Copps shared his perspective on the importance of reinstating net neutrality: “If I weren't out of the country today, I would be personally at the FCC jumping up and down, saluting the majority for reinstituting the network neutrality rules that were so foolishly eliminated by the previous Commission.” Copps has been a staunch advocate for an open Internet for over two decades, emphasizing that the reinstated rules are not only moderate but have previously been upheld in court, proving their efficacy and necessity. Ishan Mehta, Common Cause media and democracy program director, articulated the broader implications of the FCC’s decision, emphasizing that "The restoration of net neutrality is a victory for every American household, and it is a victory for democracy. Today’s vote returns control of the Internet to the American people instead of corporate interests.” The Internet, he argues, serves as a virtual public square essential for civic engagement and the organization of social justice movements in the U.S., highlighting the democratic necessity of equitable Internet access.

“Disinformation will remain an issue as long as the strategic gains of engaging in it, promoting it and profiting from it outweigh consequences for spreading it,” Common Cause, the nonpartisan public interest group, wrote in a report published last week that warned of a new wave of disinformation around this year’s vote.

We know that we can address the threat of AI-generated disinformation with common sense reforms. But, at the same time, we cannot rest on our laurels and expect the government to work everything out. We need to come together as informed and concerned citizens of this state to show our legislators that we want them to act now to ensure that this technology doesn’t negatively impact our democracy and elections.