News Clips

Heather Ferguson, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, said the problems seen in the primary are reflective of a long history of racism. “Democracy has been failing in Indigenous communities for such a long time, and this is yet another example of how they have been disenfranchised and because of how all of these other systems are not in place, it continues to cause trauma and harm to these communities,” she said.

“Indiana is the only state that has tied the voters’ hands in this way,” Julia Vaughn, policy director of Common Cause Indiana, said in a statement. “Our aim is to disrupt what could become a dangerous trend across the country.”

The blizzard of litigation — more suits have been pressed by voting rights advocates like Common Cause and the Brennan Center for Justice, and conservative groups like True the Vote and the Honest Elections Project — reflects the high stakes in 2020. Having seen the 2016 presidential race defined by harrowingly close margins in swing states, strategists are scrambling for the advantages conferred by even minor clauses in election rules. ... Voting rights advocates note that some states vote almost entirely by mail with almost no instances of fraud. “This has nothing to do with the safety and security of the election,” said Sylvia Albert, the director of voting and elections for Common Cause. “It’s clear their intention is to limit access to the ballot for people who they think won’t vote for them.”

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections with Common Cause, said decisions about how to handle voting during a pandemic are not easy but “have to be made.” “There is no waiting it out,” Albert said, noting that as more time passes, the shorter the window for educating voters about any changes becomes. “As a state legislator, as a secretary of state, as a governor, you are responsible for ensuring that voters can access the ballot. By not moving ahead, they’re really abdicating their responsibility to the voters.”

“Issuing the mandatory mask order and encouraging everyone to stay home is the right thing to do right now, considering the mess we’re in,” said Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of the nonprofit Common Cause Texas. “But the right thing to do months ago to avoid this very easily foreseeable mess was to allow all Texans to vote by mail so that no one would now find themselves having to choose between voting and endangering their health.” Guiterrez added that it’s not too late for the governor to take actions to expand mail-in voting in November.

Suzanne Almeida, the interim executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a nonpartisan organization working for good government, says she worries that some election lawsuits could make it harder for people to vote. “I am always concerned when I see legal filings or policies that are designed to make it more difficult for people to vote. We know that the June 2 primary was challenging for a lot of folks—for voters, for election administrators,” she says. “Ultimately, our goal at Common Cause is to make sure that every eligible voter can cast a ballot and not create an atmosphere that scares people away or makes it more difficult for them to get to the ballot box.” “We have time, we have political will” to make changes, Almeida says. “Ensuring that we have an election that works for everyone from election administrators to voters is something that I think both Republicans and Democrats in Pennsylvania have demonstrated that they want to get behind.”