Media Center

Today, the voice of the American people was heard above the cacophony of lies and disinformation and through the flurry of meritless lawsuits filed around the country seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The Electoral College did its job and cast its ballots to reflect the will of the American people. As required by federal law, presidential electors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia cast their votes for President-elect Biden, who earned 306 Electoral College votes, and Donald Trump, who earned 232 Electoral College votes. With the vote of Michigan’s electors this afternoon, all of the states that were subjected to baseless lawsuits in recent weeks have now had their electoral votes cast to reflect the will of the voters in those states.

Today, Common Cause called on General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Emily W. Murphy to uphold her duty and comply with the Presidential Transition Act by immediately ascertaining President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris as stewards of the incoming administration. The letter to Administrator Murphy emphasized that a peaceful and orderly transition of power is vitally important to national security, to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to our democracy. The Act defines the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect as the “apparent successful candidates for the office of President and Vice President, respectively, as ascertained by the Administrator following the general elections.”

Today, Common Cause and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, called on Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to suspend the Twitter account of President Donald Trump for his repeated violations of Twitter’s Civic Integrity Policy by spreading disinformation about the 2020 Election to millions of Twitter users online. The letter points to President Trump’s repeated attempts to disrupt the proper counting of ballots, undermine the democratic process, and stir unrest through his tweets.

In our democracy every vote counts and every vote must be counted. The will of the people is reflected in how we cast our ballots. Politicians do not get to decide whose votes will count and whose votes won’t count. We choose our politicians, they do not choose us.

Americans expect and deserve an impartial judiciary. Justice Amy Coney Barrett owes it to the American people to recuse herself from any litigation related to the 2020 Election. She would do grave harm to the integrity and reputation of the U.S. Supreme Court if she were to rule on any election litigation.

Heading into the final stretch of voting season, Common Cause, in partnership with the Election Protection coalition and the Digital Defense League, is launching a Voting Anti-Disinformation Week of Content as part of its Stopping Cyber-Suppression program. Partner organizations across the voting rights, civil rights, and public interest sector will be pushing out content on social media focused on election integrity, what people can do to stop disinformation, and why we must count every vote in this election. Additionally, Common Cause is launching a six-figure paid media campaign focused on urging people to be prepared to wait for election results and the need to let local election officials count every vote.