News Clips

“No American is above the law—not even former presidents. The charges that a federal grand jury leveled today against former President Donald Trump are profoundly serious and must go to trial. The charges themselves are unprecedented, but so are the events that led to them. “The nonpartisan January 6 Select Committee revealed the months-long conspiracy to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election and its culmination in the deadly insurrection. Anyone and everyone who broke the laws of this nation participating in that conspiracy must be held accountable.” —Marilyn Carpinteyro, interim co-president of Common Cause, on the indictment of former President Donald Trump for felony charges related to the 2020 election.

Dan Vicuña, national redistricting manager for Common Cause, said to back its answers to the test’s questions, “there is a range of evidence a court can use.” That includes qualitative data like legislative documents and testimony. Vicuña said that could mean asking questions like, “Were meetings held in secret? Did you see partisan votes in committees? Did you see secretive proceedings in which one party was boxed out of having any input?” Vicuña said the mixed results could mean the partisan intent suggested by the first test isn’t actually there, or that one test is potentially more appropriate than the other in evaluating New Mexico specifically. “What it creates is just an opportunity for experts to provide a variety of evidence and give the court an opportunity to weigh those,” he said.

Common Cause Georgia executive director Aunna Dennis added that "we know today's indictment is just the beginning of what might be a long process in the courts, and that an indictment is not a conviction." Nevertheless, Dennis said, "today's indictment of Trump and his co-conspirators highlights Georgia voters' steadfast insistence that anyone who attempts to steal our most sacred of rights must be held accountable." "The people of Georgia can now take a moment to reflect on what type of government we want moving forward," said Dennis. "Do we want a democracy in the hands of a wealthy few, or in the hands of the people?"

“When elected officials are trading stocks at a time when they’re supposed to be overseeing companies, we need to make sure that the public has the faith and confidence that elected officials are doing the bidding of the public interest and not trying to line their pockets and do what’s in their private interest,” Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs for Common Cause, a nonpartisan government reform organization, said at the time.

“We’re very hopeful that what came out in Alabama will bode well for Florida,” said Kathay Feng, vice president of programs for Common Cause, one of the plaintiffs in the federal court challenge set for next month in Tallahassee. Feng said justices signaled that the “Voting Rights Act is not dead.”

“The observers that have come into the picture since 2020 are trying to find evidence of fraud, evidence that a voter shouldn’t be there. I think that’s been the shift,” said Erin Grunze, a voting and elections consultant for Common Cause Wisconsin who previously led an election observation program at the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.