News Clips

“Overall, the Republican Party is on fairly shaky ground on ethical issues given who the de facto leader of their party is,” Aaron Scherb, the senior director for legislative affairs at the good-government group Common Cause, told me. “I’m sure to some extent they’re worried about being called out for hypocrisy.”

Common Cause-Wisconsin has joined the case on the side of the plaintiffs. Executive Director Jay Heck explains: “There should be ways for voters to return their absentee ballots so they have some assurance that they’ll be counted. The U.S. Mail is not always reliable in getting them back to the clerks in time. So, this is just something that benefits every voter regardless of how they vote," Heck says. Heck also says people with disabilities would be able to return their ballot more efficiently. The Associated Press says 29 states allow some form of absentee drop box, but Heck says Wisconsin is the only purple or swing state that does not.

“My worry is” that the bill “will cause a higher success rate for the challenges,” said Anne Gray Herring, a policy analyst for nonprofit watchdog group Common Cause Georgia.

Dede Feldman, a former state lawmaker and spokesperson for Common Cause New Mexico, said voters deserve to know who signs candidates’ paychecks and where potential conflicts of interest lie. That’s also true for district attorney candidates, she said. “It's not a good look when candidates do not disclose their finances,” she said. Feldman said more candidates need to file disclosures, but that won’t go nearly far enough. They also need to take them more seriously. “The chief duty of elected officials is to act in the public interest, and not their private interests. But when no one knows what their private interests are, there's no way to really enforce conflict of interest,” she said.

Watchdog group Common Cause filed a complaint claiming the payment was an “in-kind contribution” to Trump’s campaign, but the FEC failed to support their general counsel’s recommendation to investigate amid partisan deadlock. Cohen ultimately pleaded guilty to election finance violations, and said the Trump Organization reimbursed him.

But it’s not just blue California. Michigan, four other states and 82 jurisdictions throughout the country have moved to independent redistricting. Why? Because voters should have the power to choose their leaders, not the other way around. And because voters should be able to participate in decisions that will affect the future for themselves and their families for the next decade. In state after state, people are deciding whether they want to allow elected leaders to put their power and partisanship above the people’s interest or give people the power to put our communities first.