News Clips

“How do they get anything done? Are the important decisions going to be deadlocked? The consequences of that, as we are learning, could be devastating,” said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina. Early voting polling sites and schedules must be approved by the unanimous support of a county election board under current law, Phillips said. If a member of the county board objects, the state board must decide. If it cannot, he said, current law says the only early voting site would be the county board of elections office. Such a decision could have a devastating impact on turnout in large counties that might normally have more than a dozen early voting locations, he said, and leave voters in more rural, less populous counties forced to travel.

Some groups argue L.A. shouldn’t pick a number, but rather set the ideal level of representation. California Common Cause, a good-government advocacy organization, has urged the city to create 150,000-resident districts — the equivalent of 27 districts based on current population — and allow the number of districts to rise or fall every 10 years with population changes. A hybrid system has some potential pitfalls, warned Kathay Feng with Common Cause.  “I do think you can have a mixed system if the at-large seats are coupled with methods of casting ballots that give minority communities an ability to vote with greater voter representation,” such as ranked-choice voting, Feng added.

“There’s a clear contrast here between the two visions for what each party views for going forward with American democracy,” said Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, a nonpartisan nonprofit. “One party wants to make it harder for Americans to vote and wants there to be more big money in politics, and the other party wants to make sure that all eligible Americans can vote and wants to make sure big money does not dominate politics.”

Officials from Common Cause California, a good government advocacy group that is co-sponsoring AB 1248 and AB 764, said they’re excited to see the “groundswell of support” for independent redistricting this year. “There are some technical amendments to do to make sure the bills don’t conflict with each other,” said Laurel Brodzinsky, legislative director for the organization. “But definitely on a policy level, it’s really exciting to see.”

Wisconsin voters of all political views and stripes would be best served by Meagan Wolfe continuing in her current role. The integrity of the 2024 election and its adherence to the law and to fairness and democracy just might depend on it.

Common Cause of Delaware along with the American Civil Liberties Union both oppose the legislation that they say will dilute votes of minority residents. “We’re horrified and disappointed that this bill passed. Corporations have no place in our elections – full stop,” said Claire Snyder-Hall, executive director of Common Cause Delaware. “In a state with more registered businesses than residents, this bill gives wealthy outsiders the power to override the actual people of Seaford. Hopefully, it will not make it through the Senate.”