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With 2024 congressional races in full swing, Common Cause is again tracking the positions of every Member of Congress on issues vital to the health of our democracy. For the fifth cycle in a row, Members of the House and Senate have received letters from Common Cause asking them to co-sponsor and support up to ten democracy reform bills. The letters inform Members that their voting and co-sponsorship record will be published in Common Cause’s “Democracy Scorecard,” which will be distributed to the organization’s 1.5 million members, as well as to state and national media, during the lead-up to Election Day.

Today, Common Cause is urging every member of the United States Senate and House of Representatives to support the Freedom to Vote Act (S. 1/H.R.11), a transformational pro-voter, anti-corruption bill, and to oppose the House’s anti-voter “American Confidence in Elections” (ACE) Act. In a letter to the full Senate and House, Common Cause emphasized that the Freedom to Vote Act will strengthen Americans’ freedom to make their voices heard at the polls, end partisan gerrymandering, combat dangerous election sabotage efforts, and help to curb the undue influence of secret money in our elections.

Today at 9:30 a.m., the Committee on House Administration will hold a hearing on “American Confidence in Elections: Protecting Political Speech.” Stephen Spaulding, Common Cause Vice President for Policy & External Affairs, will be testifying. His testimony submitted in advance of the hearing discusses the myriad threats that undermine public confidence in our democracy and offered several solutions as well. He includes voter suppression and gerrymandering as hugely detrimental to public confidence and focuses his testimony on the corrosive influence of money in politics.

As the January 6th Select Committee is reportedly set to hold more hearings this month, and less than two years since January 6th, Common Cause is releasing its 2022 Democracy Scorecard, which tracks the positions of every Member of Congress on issues vital to the health of our democracy during the 117th Congress. Throughout this Congress, members of the House and Senate were notified that various votes on key democracy issues – including many related to January 6th and its aftermath - would be counted in the Scorecard, which will be distributed to our 1.5 million members, as well as to state and national media.  

In the United States, more than 3,000 sheriffs possess extensive or even total authority over arrests, incarceration, and civil enforcement in their jurisdictions. A new report released today by Common Cause and Communities for Sheriff Accountability examines how campaign contributions to sheriffs across the country and their business relationships with donors can encourage and incentivize mass incarceration in the U.S. “The Paid Jailer: How Sheriff Campaign Dollars Shape Mass Incarceration,” is a first of its kind report that examines the conflicts of interest and ethics issues raised by the political giving of corporations and individuals seeking contracts and business with these law enforcement agencies.

In a letter to U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, the state legislators urge their federal counterparts to “do everything in your power to pass” the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.