It's unclear why these groups — the very ones that have come to dominate campaigns in recent years — were exempted from pre-Election Day disclosures. But to some campaign finance watchdogs, like Philip Hensley-Robin, a former analyst for the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, the loophole — when coupled with other key shortcomings of the bill — belied its much-ballyhooed “transparency” title.

“Overall, I think you could pick out, you know, a clause here or there that was good, but overall, it's a net negative...

One group that has decided against litigation over this year’s redistricting process is Common Cause Ohio, a left-leaning good-government group. Catherine Turcer, Common Cause Ohio’s executive director, said last week that her organization was considering filing a lawsuit against the Ohio Redistricting Commission, primarily to assert that the closed-door negotiations held by commission members violated state open-meetings law.

But on Wednesday, Turcer said Common Cause Ohio decided that it would be better for them to spend...

Alyssa Canty, director of youth programs for Common Cause, said young people are often beginning to see the effects of civic policy.

"When they're 16- or 17-year-olds, they are starting their first part-time jobs," Canty pointed out. "So they now have income, so they're purchasing things, so they are paying sales tax, but they have no say in what happens to those tax dollars."

Canty sees late high school as a good time to engage young people.

"Usually around 16, 17 years old, that junior, senior...

Emma Steiner, information accountability project manager with the non-partisan group Common Cause, said disinformation can often be hard to spot.

"A lot of times people fall for disinformation," said Steiner, "because it seems to confirm something they already believe and that's where people get tripped up."

Steiner recommended that people always refer to official sources for voting information - including Secretary of States' offices or local election boards.

"Disinformation spreaders and...

Critics note there are no guarantees that the convention would be limited to gun control if triggered. The nonpartisan democracy advocacy group Common Cause earlier this week blasted the push, noting a convention lacks legal guardrails and historical norms.

"By calling a constitutional convention, Governor Newsom would invite wealthy special interests to open the hood of the U.S. Constitution and tinker with our rights and liberties—without a single rule," the group said in a news release. "There are few risks to the freedoms...

The 2020 election and its aftermath revealed the dangers posed to our democracy by disinformation. We saw how President Trump used social media platforms to assemble and incite the mob on the Ellipse on January 6th and then turn it loose on the Capitol where Congress was at work certifying the election victory of his opponent. The results were shocking, and they were tragic, and they could easily have been far worse. We must ensure they are not repeated in 2022, or 2024, or ever again.

Mario Jimenez of the progressive watchdog group Common Cause New Mexico said the public can view testing of vote-tallying machines prior to elections in every county, and that certification notices are posted on every machine where voters can see them.

“They have no basis — other than ‘we just don’t trust the machine’ — for not certifying the election,” Jimenez said of the Otero County commissioners.

Concerns remain around the reintroduction of a previously vetoed bill

Dan Vicuña, the redistricting and representation director at Common Cause, a voting rights group, told PolitiFact, "Making residents of the United States invisible for the purposes of congressional apportionment would be a clear violation of the U.S. constitution."