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Groups Urge Census Changes to Accurately Count Prison Populations For Redistricting

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Groups Urge Census Changes to Accurately Count Prison Populations For Redistricting

Today, Common Cause and the Prison Policy Initiative urged the U.S. Census Bureau to change how it counts prison populations each decade. The Bureau’s use of differential privacy, the intentional infusion of inaccurate information into population data, creates unnecessary miscounts in data used by state and local officials for redistricting. In a letter to Director Robert L. Santos and other senior officials, the groups emphasized that the populations of correctional facilities are already publicly available and that differential privacy is...

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David Vance

National Media Strategist
dvance@commoncause.org
240-605-8600

Katie Scally

Communications Director
kscally@commoncause.org
408-205-1257

Ariana Marmolejo

Regional Communications Strategist (West)
amarmolejo@commoncause.org

Jennifer Garcia

Regional Communications Strategist (South)
jgarcia@commoncause.org

Kenny Colston

Regional Communications Strategist (Midwest)
kcolston@commoncause.org

Common Cause’s network of national and state democracy reform experts are frequent media commentators. To talk with one of our experts, please reach out to any member of the press team above.

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USA Today (Op-Ed): Trump wants to make money off the fake ‘stolen election’ crisis he created. Don’t let him.

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USA Today (Op-Ed): Trump wants to make money off the fake ‘stolen election’ crisis he created. Don’t let him.

Trump donors beware! President Trump is saying he needs your money for legal challenges to last week’s election outcome, but he’s showing you in the fine print that your money won’t be used for legal challenges. What will he do with your money? Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. During his 2016 campaign, Trump’s campaign paid his businesses more than $12 million. Since taking office in 2017, Trump’s campaign has continued paying his businesses millions more of his donors’ dollars, together with...

Washington Post: Trump’s election challenge looks like a scam to line his pockets

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Washington Post: Trump’s election challenge looks like a scam to line his pockets

“It’s a straight-up bait and switch,” Paul S. Ryan, the vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, tells me. Such email solicitations target small donors, so for the “overwhelming majority of people contributing … none of their money will end up in recount accounts” or be used for otherwise challenging the election.

Rather, it will be used to extend Trump’s influence over the RNC during the Biden presidency and to build up his leadership PAC, which amounts to a “slush fund” for Trump’s personal...

Associated Press: Money to support Trump court fight could flow to president

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Associated Press: Money to support Trump court fight could flow to president

“This is a slush fund. That’s the bottom line,” said Paul S. Ryan, a longtime campaign finance attorney with the good government group Common Cause. “Trump may just continue to string out this meritless litigation in order to fleece his own supporters of their money and use it in the coming years to pad his own lifestyle while teasing a 2024 candidacy.”

CNN: Trump asks for ‘election defense’ donations, but the money also benefits his new leadership PAC

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CNN: Trump asks for ‘election defense’ donations, but the money also benefits his new leadership PAC

"He's saying that he needs donors' money for election-challenge litigation, but he's putting the money into an account to be used for his political future," said Paul Ryan, the vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause.


Fundraising limits are higher for leadership PACs than candidate committees. A donor could only contribute a maximum of $2,800 at this point for a 2024 presidential campaign but can contribute $20,000 to a leadership PAC in four, annual installments by that date, Ryan notes.

Common Cause Calls on GSA to Comply with Presidential Transition Act & Put National Security & Public Health Before Partisanship

Press Release

Common Cause Calls on GSA to Comply with Presidential Transition Act & Put National Security & Public Health Before Partisanship

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...

Associated Press: Noem’s pitch to aid Trump seems to benefit own campaign fund

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Associated Press: Noem’s pitch to aid Trump seems to benefit own campaign fund

It’s unlikely that much, if any, of the money will end up going to Trump, said Paul S. Ryan, the vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, a campaign finance watchdog. Ryan, a campaign finance lawyer, pointed out that the governor can give a maximum of $2,800 to Trump’s campaign under federal law. If she wanted more to flow to Trump, she could have directed donors to the president’s own donation site.

“In all likelihood, she is keeping this money that she is raising,” Ryan said. “If she were actually...

ABC News: No full intel briefings for Biden yet

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ABC News: No full intel briefings for Biden yet

Aaron Scherb, the director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, told ABC News on Monday that the "petty and unproductive" decision by GSA to withhold key resources to the Biden transition could have the "potential for catastrophic results." 

"By GSA not signing off on this, there is certainly some classified intelligence information that the incoming administration would not have access to -- and would potentially not be fully prepared on day one to be able to counteract ongoing efforts from our adversaries like all previous...

Inside Sources (Op-Ed): Access to Democracy Must Be a Priority For All

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Inside Sources (Op-Ed): Access to Democracy Must Be a Priority For All

As we emerge from the pandemic, access to democracy must remain a priority. Our lives, our families, and our community depend on it.

This year’s record turnout shows the pent-up demand of the people for elections that work of all of us.

Third Federal Court Blocks Trump’s Directive to Omit Undocumented Immigrants in Census Apportionment Calculations

Press Release

Third Federal Court Blocks Trump’s Directive to Omit Undocumented Immigrants in Census Apportionment Calculations

Today, a third federal court blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to omit undocumented immigrants from the census numbers for the apportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. District for the District of Maryland, in Useche v. Trump, ruled that President Trump’s memorandum ordering this unprecedented change  violates U.S. statutes governing the census and apportionment.

The Guardian: Trump will no longer receive special Twitter treatment if he loses election

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The Guardian: Trump will no longer receive special Twitter treatment if he loses election

On Thursday, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the watchdog group Common Cause submitted a joint letter to Jack Dorsey, the Twitter CEO, requesting Trump’s account be temporarily suspended to prevent the spread of misinformation about the election.

“We fear that, in the absence of action by Twitter, the president may be successful in his goal of delegitimizing the integrity of our democratic processes for many, and not just Twitter users but other voters and members of the public, sowing uncertainty...

USA Today: Fact check: Georgia ballot curing is not election fraud

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USA Today: Fact check: Georgia ballot curing is not election fraud

“We’re all hands on deck right now to make sure that we can get folks who had to vote provisionally, that they’re able to cure their ballots,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, the state’s chapter of the national nonpartisan watchdog group. Most counties are almost done counting their outstanding absentee ballots, she said. 

Common Cause Georgia requests lists of provisional voters from individual counties, and then volunteers reach out to those voters via text banking, phone banking or...

Salon: Trump’s election lies are dangerous to democracy. Twitter must suspend his account

News Clip

Salon: Trump’s election lies are dangerous to democracy. Twitter must suspend his account

Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn explained that "we are a democracy and democracies count all the votes. But the president is freely using his Twitter account in an attempt to deliberately undermine the nation's vote count and undercut Americans' faith in our elections."

"We are urging Twitter to take immediate action to enforce its own policies and curb President Trump's Twitter campaign to spread disinformation and sow unrest amongst his followers," she added. "The president's actions are dangerous and irresponsible...

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