Media Center

Last night, 30+ organizations from the Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD) coalition urged the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules & Administration to include vital funding to bolster state and local elections officials facing unprecedented burdens in holding elections amidst the COVID-19 pandemic amidst massive budget shortfalls. In a letter organized by Common Cause to every member of the Committee yesterday, more than 30 groups emphasized the importance supporting the $3.6 billion in election funding that was included in the House-passed Heroes Act in order to safeguard our elections against multiple threats at home and abroad.

Today, Common Cause Indiana filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state law that strips voters of their right to petition state courts to extend polling-place hours. Common Cause Indiana v. Lawson was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Common Cause Indiana is being represented in the case by Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the law firm of Eimer Stahl LLP and the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Every American deserves to have their votes counted and voices heard. But since the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Shelby County v. Holder gutted the Voting Rights Act seven years ago today, Americans have been systematically stripped of their ability to vote in numbers not seen since the Jim Crow era. Instead of poll taxes and literacy tests, modern day vote suppressors use poll closures, voter purges, and other devious tactics to silence Americans. Those abuses have continued even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic forcing too many citizens to choose whether to give up their right to vote or endanger their health by standing in long lines in order to cast their ballot.

Today’s primary election went remarkably smoothly for most who made it to the polls but certainly not for all. And we don’t know how many never made it to the polls in the first place in an election where many counties – including those encompassing Louisville and Lexington – had only one polling location for voters. Too many Kentuckians never received the mail-in ballots they requested. As a result, many older voters and other citizens at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 had to choose between risking their safety or giving up their right to vote.

The HEROES Act takes critical steps to help secure essential pillars of our democracy undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic while providing a huge boost to address the public health and economic crises. The bill provides important bulwarks to help safeguard our elections, the Census, the U.S. Postal Service, and includes enhanced oversight requirements for the stimulus package that were sorely lacking in CARES Act passed by Congress in late March.

Today, Common Cause called on Congress to prioritize funding for key elements of our democracy in the next COVID-19 emergency supplemental appropriations bill (“CARES 2.0”). The letter urges every Member of Congress to designate sufficient funding in the stimulus package to secure essential pillars of our democracy threatened by the pandemic and to ensure proper safeguards are put into place to oversee government disbursement of trillions of dollars in stimulus funds. The elements highlighted in the letter include critical efforts to safeguard our elections, the Census, the U.S. Postal Service, access to broadband internet service, as well as local journalism and to fully staff and prioritize the CARES Act Congressional Oversight Commission.