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Voting & Elections 03.28.2024

CBS/Associated Press: Writing the wrong date on your mail-in ballot in Pa. could get your vote thrown out, judges rule

Common Cause Pennsylvania issued this statement about the ruling: "This ruling means that counties will be permitted to throw out ballots that were submitted in time, for reasons irrelevant to the voters' eligibility to vote. We are disheartened by this ruling and maintain our position that every voter who makes the effort to participate should have their vote counted. But our work will continue regardless. Though this ruling will undoubtedly have a negative impact on elderly voters and voters of color, we will work with partners to ensure that voters across the state of Pennsylvania know how to make sure their votes are counted."

Miami Herald/Orlando Sentinel (Editorial): Lawmakers make it easier for corruption to flourish

Common Cause Florida and eight other groups are urging DeSantis to veto the bill, calling the personal knowledge standard “an unreasonably high evidentiary hurdle that has never existed in the 50-year history of the Commission. Instead, complaints should continue to require the filer to certify that the information is true to the best of their knowledge, which already discourages false and frivolous complaints.”

Voting & Elections 03.26.2024

Associated Press: North Carolina elections board finalizes results from primary marked by new voter ID rules

Common Cause North Carolina urged the legislature on Tuesday to reinstate the grace period, saying it ensures voters who rely on the mail to vote won’t be disenfranchised by postage delays beyond their control.

Nebraska Examiner: ‘Partisan balance’ requirements on state commissions ignored, sidestepped

Gavin Geis of Common Cause Nebraska said it was disappointing and concerning that the partisan balance requirement had been ignored and sidestepped. “It’s put in there for a purpose, so we have some sort of diversity of opinion and perspective on questions of policy,” Geis said. “That diversity of thought leads to better outcomes.” “Not everyone has the opinion of a registered Republican,” he added. “It certainly should not to be skirted around.”

Money & Influence 03.26.2024

Cincinnati Enquirer/Louisville Courier Journal: How conservative Florida groups pushed controversial child labor, SNAP bills in Kentucky

“This is not just some kind of organic, grassroots effort. It's a much more … deliberative, pernicious effort by big business,” said Aaron Scherb, the senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, a national watchdog group.

Associated Press: In the Kansas House, when lobbyists ask for new laws, their names go on the bills

“I’m thrilled to see it,” said Heather Ferguson, a Kansan who is director of operations for the government transparency group Common Cause. “It helps to rebuild some of the trust with the public in their elected officials and in their institutions and in the legislative process in general.” In some offices and hallways under the Kansas Statehouse’s copper dome, the response to the new practice has been less enthusiastic than Ferguson’s reaction, though lobbyists won’t publicly criticize it. Eric Stafford, who lobbies for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, said he doesn’t care, “as long as it’s consistent.”

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