ALEC in Texas: Undercovering the Influence of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in the Texas Legislature
Research and Reports
The report reveals which members of the Texas legislature have ties to ALEC and which recent state bills can be traced back to the organization. Additionally, the report documents how ALEC abuses its public charity status with the IRS, effectively making its corporate donors eligible for tax breaks for its funding of ALEC.
On August 2, 2019, Common Cause filed complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging reason to believe that solicitations for campaign contributions to former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s Senate campaign distributed by We Build the Wall, Inc. violated multiple campaign finance laws. The email solicitation appears to violate the ban on corporate contributions to a federal candidate and the prohibition on candidates spending “soft money” in connection with their election. The email also lacks the “paid for by” disclaimer required by federal law when candidates solicit political contributions.
The Colorado Voting Experience: A Model That Encourages Full Participation
Research and Reports
Common Cause and the National Vote At Home Institute recommend that all states adopt reforms including same-day voter registration and early voting so that voters have sufficient and secure options to cast a ballot on or before Election Day.
Evidence obtained by Common Cause confirms how political operatives spent years plotting to rig our democracy with a Census citizenship question. GOP’s chief gerrymandering mastermind Thomas Hofeller laid out a plan to add the citizenship question to the Census. The purpose? Manipulating our Census and redistricting process to be, in Hofeller’s words, “advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites."
