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Today, Common Cause, along with former elected and appointed Republican officials, filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in Commerce v. New York challenging the addition of the citizenship question to the 2020 census. The government watchdog also launched the next phase in its “Count Me In 2020 Campaign” for a fair and accurate census. Common Cause called on its 1.12 million members to celebrate April 1, 2019 as a Census Day of Action by fighting for adequate census funding from our federal and state governments and getting involved in grassroots organizations who are dedicated to ensuring that everyone gets counted. Members across the country are calling their representatives in Congress to urge them to support the Census IDEA Act and to fully fund the 2020 census.

The “For the People Act” offers common sense solutions to problems Americans are demanding that their elected officials solve. These pro-democracy reforms are tested and proven to be effective on the state and local level where citizens, tired of waiting for Washington to act, worked to enact these reforms. Citizen action has moved elected officials in many states and municipalities and citizens have also taken matters into their own hands and passed ballot initiatives. As we outlined in our Democracy on the Ballot report, more than 90% of the pro-democracy reform initiatives passed in each of the last two cycles.

Eric H. Holder, Jr, the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, and Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed the End Gerrymandering Pledge, a new initiative of Common Cause to advance fair redistricting reform that is transparent, nondiscriminatory and politically impartial in advance of the 2020 Census.  

Rucho v. Common Cause is the most extreme, overt, and brutal partisan gerrymander this Court or any court has ever seen, says Emmet Bondurant, lead counsel in the case.

Score one for the people. The House passed the For the People Act in the face of stiff opposition from K Street’s corporate lobbyists and special interests. The legislation truly is for the people, bundling together a comprehensive set of long-overdue democracy reforms at a time when democratic norms are under siege in our nation. Many of the reforms included in H.R. 1 are tested reforms that are working at the state and local level with bipartisan support to restore the rule of law, empower the voices of all Americans, curb abusive partisan gerrymandering, and strengthen the right to vote for every eligible American.

Today’s District Court ruling is a victory for equal representation for every resident of the United States. Americans expect and deserve a fair and accurate census and striking the citizenship question will help ensure that occurs.