Search

Menu

Close

Press

Featured Press
Groups Urge Census Changes to Accurately Count Prison Populations For Redistricting

Press Release

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...

Media Contacts

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.

Filters

4018 Results

through

Reset Filters

Close

Filters

4018 Results

through

Reset Filters

Common Cause Files Reply Brief Seeking Summary Judgment Against Trump’s Directive to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants in Census Apportionment Calculations  

Press Release

Common Cause Files Reply Brief Seeking Summary Judgment Against Trump’s Directive to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants in Census Apportionment Calculations  

On Wednesday, Common Cause filed its reply brief in support of its motion for summary judgment in its challenge to President Trump’s memorandum requiring the exclusion of undocumented immigrants from the congressional apportionment base following the 2020 Census. The brief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Common Cause v. Trump, also urges the court to expedite proceedings so that a final judgment and appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court can be completed before January  2021, when the...

Newsweek: Mitch McConnell’s ‘Legislative Graveyard’ Helping Current Congress to Be the Least Productive in History, Report Says

News Clip

Newsweek: Mitch McConnell’s ‘Legislative Graveyard’ Helping Current Congress to Be the Least Productive in History, Report Says

"The House of Representatives passed nearly 10 democracy reform bills, often with bipartisan support, this session, but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked debate and markups on all of these bills and refused to allow a vote," Common Cause's director of legislative affairs, Aaron Scherb, said.

The 2020 Democracy Scorecard, one of the group's initiatives, provides data on every current member of the House of Representatives and Senate, including their votes and co-sponsorships of democracy reform bills.

Scherb...

Turning Point USA Troll Farm Points to Need for Social Media Platforms to Strengthen Disinformation Protections

Press Release

Turning Point USA Troll Farm Points to Need for Social Media Platforms to Strengthen Disinformation Protections

Turning Point USA’s Arizona troll farm takes a page from the Russian disinformation playbook from the 2016 presidential race and is likely only the tip of the iceberg. The effort is a direct attack on voters and our democracy, and is a reminder that disinformation that suppresses the vote doesn’t just come from Russia or other hostile foreign powers, or in the form of microtargeted ads. The majority of disinformation that we’ve identified through the Stopping Cyber Suppression program throughout this year’s primary elections has been...

Politico: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin decided the 2016 election. We’ll have to wait on them in 2020.

News Clip

Politico: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin decided the 2016 election. We’ll have to wait on them in 2020.

“I can't imagine anyone will know on election night what's going to happen in Wisconsin,” said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin. Heck added that he doesn’t expect the state Legislature coming back into session to make changes.

Salon: Russian state hackers are accused of trying to infiltrate Biden’s campaign firm

News Clip

Salon: Russian state hackers are accused of trying to infiltrate Biden’s campaign firm

"Over the past number of years, there's been significant evidence documented in the Senate Intelligence Committee's bipartisan report and numerous other places, including the 17 intelligence agencies, that Russia infiltrated our elections in the 2016 race and was continuing to do that throughout not only the 2018 elections, but also into the 2020 election," Aaron Scherb, the director of legislative affairs at the government watchdog group Common Cause, told Salon. "And so it's no surprise at all that this new evidence was revealed recently...

Washington Post (EDITORIAL): Authorities must get to the bottom of Postmaster DeJoy’s alleged manipulation of campaign donations

News Clip

Washington Post (EDITORIAL): Authorities must get to the bottom of Postmaster DeJoy’s alleged manipulation of campaign donations

If the allegations are true, Mr. DeJoy would be in violation of federal election laws that prohibit so-called straw donations because they are a way of evading transparency requirements and contribution limits that are so crucial to the conduct of fair elections. Other possible violations include prohibited use of corporate money and coercion of employees. There is a five-year federal statute of limitations, but there is no time limit in North Carolina for the prosecution of felonies, including campaign violations. North Carolina Attorney...

CNBC: POLITICS How Trump v. Biden could be Bush v. Gore ‘on steroids’

News Clip

CNBC: POLITICS How Trump v. Biden could be Bush v. Gore ‘on steroids’

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at the nonpartisan pro-democracy group Common Cause, said the tidal wave of early litigation suggests that Republicans and Democrats will have more potential targets for emergency lawsuits that could swing the race.

“Both parties will be looking at every state to see whether a lawsuit could help their candidate win,” Albert said. “I think there’s a likelihood of Florida times 10.”

New York Times: What are the consequences of voting twice, anyway?

News Clip

New York Times: What are the consequences of voting twice, anyway?

Citing all the disarray in Georgia’s elections this year, public interest groups wonder whether it was an accident. “Secretary Raffensperger has been looking for reasons to cast doubt on Georgia’s mail-in ballot system for months,” said Aunna Dennis, the executive director of Common Cause Georgia. “He would have served us all better if he had invested that time and energy into preventing the problems that occurred in June.”

TIME: How Donald Trump’s Misinformation Campaign Against Mail-in Voting Is Undermining Faith in Democracy

News Clip

TIME: How Donald Trump’s Misinformation Campaign Against Mail-in Voting Is Undermining Faith in Democracy

“We have seen already that the President’s rhetoric is affecting the confidence that voters have in vote-by-mail, particularly, and also in elections in general,” Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at Common Cause, testified to Congress on Aug. 4.

New Report: Amplifying Small-Dollar Donors in the Citizens United Era

Press Release

New Report: Amplifying Small-Dollar Donors in the Citizens United Era

Analysis shows how Connecticut’s Citizens’ Election Program shifted the balance of power to the people, diversified the legislature and led to better policies for everyday Americans in its first decade

New York Times (Op-Ed): ‘It’s 8 P.M. on Election Day.’ Experts Share Their Nightmare Scenarios.

News Clip

New York Times (Op-Ed): ‘It’s 8 P.M. on Election Day.’ Experts Share Their Nightmare Scenarios.

Solution: Congress should pass a new coronavirus relief bill that includes $3.6 billion for states to administer elections. With increased resources, states can begin to recruit, hire more workers at a higher wage and organize mass trainings. Local governments should try to find new kinds of poll workers: colleges could give their students credit, employers could provide paid time off and local governments could assign employees to the polls. Companies could help, too. Which sports team will award season tickets to a poll worker? Which...

Load More

Close

    • Close

    Hello! It looks like you're joining us from {state}.

    Want to see what's happening in your state?

    Go to Common Cause {state}