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“Every American deserves the chance to make their voice heard in our elections without fear of election officials targeting them because of their voting history,” said Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn. “But regardless of how the Court dressed up today’s ruling, the narrow majority just took another hostile step against the right to vote. The laws in most states are more protective of infrequent voters than the one the Court approved in Ohio. Still, many partisan officials are doubtless already studying this morning’s decision as a blueprint for disenfranchising political opponents. And we are prepared to fight back against further erosions to the right to vote.

As 2018 congressional races heat up, Common Cause is once again tracking the positions of every Member of Congress on issues vital to the health of our democracy. Members of the House and Senate have received letters asking them to co-sponsor and support more than a dozen democracy reform bills and informing them that their co-sponsorship record will be published to our 1.1 million members during the lead-up to Election Day in Common Cause’s “Democracy Scorecard.”

Today, Common Cause and the Voting Rights Institute filed an amici brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Abbott v. Perez, in support of a challenge to Texas legislative districts twice found by lower courts to be discriminatory racial gerrymanders perpetrated by the state Legislature. The maps drawn after the 2010 Census, were initially found to violate the Voting Rights Act by a U.S. District Court in 2011 but were reinstituted by the Legislature in 2013 without change.

The 11th Circuit’s remand of Georgia’s voter roll purges is a victory for Georgia and for democracy. Common Cause Georgia is encouraged with the news of our voter roll purge case against Secretary of State Brian Kemp. Our state should not be using random criteria to remove legally registered voters from the voter rolls.

Common Cause Pennsylvania announced that after further analysis they have found no violations of the Voting Rights Act in the new congressional map issued by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Feb. 19.

The American public must have confidence in the leadership of Census Bureau to ensure everyone is counted accurately. Public outrage met reports that Thomas Brunell would be named deputy director, a slot that does not require Senate confirmation, but that he would in fact lead the Census. The controversy was well founded. Brunell’s controversial background as an academic who regular testified in support Republican gerrymanders would have politicized the national headcount.