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Government Accountability Groups Urge House to Strengthen the Office of Congressional Ethics and Make It Permanent

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Government Accountability Groups Urge House to Strengthen the Office of Congressional Ethics and Make It Permanent

Today, Common Cause and other government accountability groups urged every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to strengthen the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and make the office permanent. Even if Congress does not codify the OCE into law at this time, the groups stress the importance of maintaining the office’s continued existence and the importance of not weakening it in the 119th Congress. The letter emphasizes overwhelming public support for increased ethics and accountability measures and touts the success of...

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David Vance

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

Katie Scally

Communications Director
kscally@commoncause.org
202-736-5713

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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Public News Service: Voting rights groups call constitutional convention efforts a threat to democracy

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Public News Service: Voting rights groups call constitutional convention efforts a threat to democracy

Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, said there are no rules in the Constitution for how to govern a convention and no guarantee, even the First Amendment, would be safe.

"There's great risk and great potential harm to everything already enshrined in our Constitution if we do open up this Pandora's box," Foster cautioned.

Foster pointed out a convention could potentially allow unelected delegates and special-interest groups to enshrine their agenda into a founding document.

Providence Journal: Should Rhode Islanders be able to vote on the same day they register? What both sides say

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Providence Journal: Should Rhode Islanders be able to vote on the same day they register? What both sides say

Of the 22 states that have some version of same-day registration, John Marion, executive director of Common Cause RI, says: "Some have no residency deadline, others have lengthy deadlines. All have residency requirements." The maximum allowed under legal precedent is 30 days."

This year's version of the legislation has not yet been introduced, but Marion confirms his group's intent: If the repeal wins voter approval in November, "we would then advocate for an enabling statute that would allow for same-day voter registration."

Sacramento Bee/Yahoo! News (Op-Ed): What has California’s Voters Choice Act helped accomplish?

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Sacramento Bee/Yahoo! News (Op-Ed): What has California’s Voters Choice Act helped accomplish?

While the Voters Choice Act was never intended to be a panacea for all voting challenges facing California, one thing is very clear: The law is a reform worth revisiting and reinvesting in, and still holds promise for expanding electoral participation across the state and across many voting groups.

Colorado Newsline: Trump brief asks Supreme Court to put ‘decisive end’ to 14th Amendment challenges

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Colorado Newsline: Trump brief asks Supreme Court to put ‘decisive end’ to 14th Amendment challenges

Colorado Common Cause, which supported the plaintiffs’ case with an amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief before the Colorado Supreme Court, on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court “to set a critical legal precedent to safeguard the future of American democracy.”

“The Supreme Court must embrace its role as an active defender of our Constitution, or else it may crumble under the immense pressure it will surely face in the years to come,” Aly Belknap, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.

PolitiFact: FALSE: “Illegal immigrants now have the right to vote in New York.”

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PolitiFact: FALSE: “Illegal immigrants now have the right to vote in New York.”

Susan Lerner, the executive director of the voting rights group Common Cause New York, said that only U.S. citizens can vote in New York state.

"Permanent residents and people authorized to work here are documented and approved by the federal government," Lerner said. "They pay state and federal taxes, and pay into Social Security as well. In many cases, they’ve lived in the United States for decades. There is nothing ‘illegal’ about them."

NPR (Audio): The RNC wants Republicans to embrace early voting. Trump’s rhetoric makes it tough

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NPR (Audio): The RNC wants Republicans to embrace early voting. Trump’s rhetoric makes it tough

Jay Heck, the executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, said he thinks that Republicans lost recent state Supreme Court elections and a recent gubernatorial election partly because of their voters' aversion to early voting.

"There is, I think, a realization on the part of some of them that they had better begin to do the things that progressives and Democrats are doing to turn out the vote if they want to carry the state for Trump or if they want to win a gubernatorial election in the near future," he said.

NPR Morning Edition (AUDIO): The GOP needs more of its voters to cast ballots early. What’s the problem?

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NPR Morning Edition (AUDIO): The GOP needs more of its voters to cast ballots early. What’s the problem?

Despite endorsing Bank Your Vote, on the trail, Trump has continued to cast doubt on the legitimacy and security of mail voting in particular. Aaron Scherb with Common Cause says this is a huge hurdle for the RNC. He says Republicans across the country have been maligning mail voting since 2020. He says it's going to be hard for them to convince their voters to get over a distrust they created.

AARON SCHERB: So getting voters to, like, unlearn or unhear those messages is tough to undo that damage. And so I think that's what this...

Yahoo! News/Providence Journal: ‘Relentless grind’: Providence City Council is a big job. Some members aren’t always doing it.

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Yahoo! News/Providence Journal: ‘Relentless grind’: Providence City Council is a big job. Some members aren’t always doing it.

"Certainly the fact that it is very low-paying, that’s kind of a reflection of the value that has pervaded for a long time in America – that legislatures should be made up of regular citizens or residents of the state or city that they’re representing," said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. "But we know that it can result in bodies not being necessarily as representative of a community as [they] could be because the lack of pay means that people who don’t have flexible jobs or don’t have a source of...

New York Times: Candidates Lay Groundwork For Fraud Cries Before Caucuses

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New York Times: Candidates Lay Groundwork For Fraud Cries Before Caucuses

“This follows the general playbook, the election denier playbook of just pre-emptively laying the groundwork for claims of fraud in the event of a loss,” said Emma Steiner, the Information Accountability Project Manager at Common Cause. “It’s sort of future-proofing.”

Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer: $15k on tickets. $2k/month on meals. Inside a Cleveland-area House rep’s campaign spending

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Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer: $15k on tickets. $2k/month on meals. Inside a Cleveland-area House rep’s campaign spending

Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, which advocates for better government ethics laws and transparency in campaign finance, reviewed Patton’s audits. She said the most obvious aggrieved party to questionable campaign spending would be the donors. But in a less-direct way, she said problems arise in a representative democracy when public officials can enrich themselves in the process via interested donors.

“Campaign cash is not a slush fund,” she said. “It is intended to be spent to get yourself...

Texas Tribune/San Antonio Express-News: Texas GOP chair Matt Rinaldi backed a group with white supremacist ties — while working for its billionaire funder

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Texas Tribune/San Antonio Express-News: Texas GOP chair Matt Rinaldi backed a group with white supremacist ties — while working for its billionaire funder

Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of the watchdog group Common Cause Texas, said Rinaldi’s legal representation of Wilks was “shocking,” especially in light of the ongoing scandals involving Defend Texas Liberty that Rinaldi has been involved in.

“We all know money equals power in Texas politics and billionaires like the Wilks use their wealth liberally to bend public policy to their liking all the time,” he said. “But it's still pretty shocking.”

Washington Post: Maryland Elections Board member arrested on Jan. 6 riot charges, resigns

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Washington Post: Maryland Elections Board member arrested on Jan. 6 riot charges, resigns

“After the 2024 election, the General Assembly should seriously consider whether the process for selecting board members needs to be changed. This should be a wake-up call,” Morgan Drayton, policy and engagement manager at the nonpartisan government watchdog group Common Cause Maryland, said in a statement.

“It is sickening to think that Ayala was making decisions about our elections after allegedly participating in the attempted insurrection. His disrespect for the voices of Maryland voters and his disregard for the...

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