News Clips

Jay Heck, executive director of voting rights advocacy organization Common Cause Wisconsin, says the introduction of the proposal will only serve to confuse voters ahead of next year’s elections. Under the bill, the administrator of the WEC would need to work with the secretary of state to transition election responsibilities by June 30, 2024 —a little more than four months before the presidential election. “The thing that’s most disturbing about it is it’s creating, deliberately, a chaotic, confusing situation going into an election year,” Heck says. “It’s the worst type of legislation, it’s cynical and damaging to democracy.”

Common Cause Maryland and others see a troubling pattern. You make friends with party insiders and your path to the State House is far easier. You get the appointment and then special interest money steered your way keeps you in the job. Other vacancies from state attorney general to comptroller to U.S. Senate seats get a special election (under a 2016 state constitutional amendment ratified by voters).

A former Republican Colorado secretary of state, Mary Estill Buchanan, joined advocacy group Colorado Common Cause in an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs’ case, telling the court that “this country and its institutions are at a crossroads.” “(Trump) allowed a lust for power to supersede his own Oath of Office and over two centuries of American political precedent. Mr. Trump has sought at every turn to inject chaos into our country’s electoral system in the upcoming 2024 presidential election,” the brief said. “He should be given no opportunity to do so in the state of Colorado.”

The landscape, meanwhile, is dramatically different in Democrat-controlled states. In Maryland, advocates have experienced virtually no resistance whatsoever, and say they are aware of no organized opposition. “We’re expecting a disinformation campaign,” says Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland. “But outside of that we’re not hearing anything at all.”

“This decision blatantly ignores the will of Florida voters who — more than a decade ago — demanded Fair Districts that protect representation for communities of color,” Amy Keith, the executive director of Common Cause Florida, said in a statement, referring to the state’s Fair Districts Amendment. Keith noted in her statement that the Florida congressional boundaries are also being challenged in federal court in a separate pending case that argues that the map violates the US Constitution. “Our work is not done until all voters can exercise their right to fair representation,” she said.

“I think this is a perfect example of the real impact in peoples’ lives when we delay the certification of our vote because of misinformation,” said Katya Ehresman, voting rights program manager at Common Cause Texas.