News Clips

This is our year to flip the script and make sure we the people drive this process, not the politicians. That’s why it’s critical that we the people have a say in how our maps are drawn. When the people are prioritized in our democracy, we will have certainty that maps are drawn to benefit us, not the politicians. State legislators must give us ample opportunity to review the maps, weigh in with our own thoughts, and voice our feedback. State legislators should outline an accessible process for multiple statewide public hearings for as many Texans as possible to be heard.

Stephen Spaulding, a senior counsel at Common Cause, said that engaged Democratic voters were attuned to the filibuster, the Senate’s signature procedural weapon that requires a 60-vote supermajority to advance most bills. “They will have serious questions if it’s not reformed and there is no action to protect voting rights or reproductive rights, both of which are under attack in states across the country,” he said. “They will ask the question: ‘Why did you care more about a Senate rule than these priorities?’”

Kathay Feng, director of redistricting and representation with Common Cause, said the bar on partisan redistricting will nix a frequent excuse for maps that otherwise negatively affect minority voters. “It will eliminate the most extreme partisan gerrymanders, and it will send a clear signal to those that are drawing the lines that they can no longer use that as their escape valve for all the manipulation they’re doing,” she said. 

"It's a very bold bill," Steve Spaulding, senior counsel for Public Policy & Government Affairs at Common Cause, told Insider. "It is still a sweeping, bold bill with many of the main pillars of the For The People Act in it."  "I think there is room for common ground, but at the end of the day, given that we're talking about the fundamental freedom to vote, we need to give Senator Manchin room to bring along the Republicans that will see the wisdom of supporting this revised bill," Spaulding said. "But at the end of the day, if that doesn't happen, we do think it's incumbent upon the majority to find a path forward to get this bill to the president's desk." 

“This is a minimal problem,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/New York. “This is a very very small fraction of the total number of voters. And they’re absolutely right, it’s easy to solve this problem.”

"The real problem here is unfortunately we don't have a good watchdog agency to ­enforce against these bad actors," says Beth Rotman of the clean-government group Common Cause. "Unfortunately, what that means is when groups like this look to see whether they can get away with crossing the line like this, often the answer is yes."