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

Press Release

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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The Capital Times: The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ugly politics, explained

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The Capital Times: The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ugly politics, explained

“The danger (with rhetoric surrounding impeaching Protasiewicz) is that you undermine significant confidence in the court,” said Jay Heck, executive director of the good government group Common Cause Wisconsin. “But one of the problems we have now is that’s not just a function of this past election, that is a function of things that have been occurring going back to 1997.

“This is long-term. This is 25 years in the making.”

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Voting rights groups call for investigation of Election Day problems in Northampton County

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Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Voting rights groups call for investigation of Election Day problems in Northampton County

The groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Common Cause PA, All Voting is Local, PA Voice, Action Together NEPA, and PA Stands Up, called for a full investigation and a report to provide transparency for the public.

“The county’s conflicting messages to the public on Election Day led to confusion, concern, and doubt in the security and accuracy of votes. These mistakes grow into misinformation,” said Philip Hensley-Robin, executive director of Common Cause PA.

SCOTUS Ethics Code a First Step That Congress Must Build On  

Press Release

SCOTUS Ethics Code a First Step That Congress Must Build On  

This afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would adopt a code of ethics. The move follows a series of scandals involving Supreme Court Justices that came to light in recent months. The announcement also comes at a time when the Senate Judiciary Committee has already moved forward legislation to establish an ethics code for the Supreme Court and is scheduled to vote this week on subpoenas for witnesses at the heart of some of the recent scandals.

National Voting Rights Organization: Let Election Workers Do Their Job

Press Release

National Voting Rights Organization: Let Election Workers Do Their Job

Today, Common Cause, a national, nonpartisan voting rights organization is urging all Americans to let election workers do their job in response to reports of election offices receiving threatening letters, some laced with fentanyl. The letters were sent to offices in California, Georgia, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington following the November 7 election.

Raleigh News & Observer: The first elections with voter ID in NC are done. What was the impact?

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Raleigh News & Observer: The first elections with voter ID in NC are done. What was the impact?

“We know it does create another impediment for people trying to get to the polls,” said Ann Webb, policy director at Common Cause North Carolina, a group that has sued to stop gerrymandering and new restrictions on voting.

Webb said the voter ID requirement is part an effort by Republican lawmakers to narrow access to voting. “We like to say, ‘In 2023 there will be voter ID. In 2024, there will be more,’” Webb said.

Albuquerque Journal (Op-Ed): Ethics issues likely affected Albuquerque city elections

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Albuquerque Journal (Op-Ed): Ethics issues likely affected Albuquerque city elections

Restoring public trust in government and elected officials has been the major thrust of Common Cause since its founding in the 1970s, when Watergate and Vietnam led to widespread disbelief that presidents and top officials were telling the truth. Fast forward 50 years, and public trust has declined even further — despite the efforts of many reformers to tighten ethical standards, require transparent campaign reporting, and safeguard elections.

PolitiFact: On Nov. 7, 2023, Pennsylvania voting machines were “flipping votes,” which is evidence of “election fraud.”

News Clip

PolitiFact: On Nov. 7, 2023, Pennsylvania voting machines were “flipping votes,” which is evidence of “election fraud.”

Five local voting rights advocacy groups, including Common Cause Pennsylvania and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, called the incident "an unfortunate situation caused by human error," but said it did not amount to election fraud.

"This is a programming error that is being weaponized for disinformation purposes," Philip Hensley-Robin, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, told PolitiFact.

The Hill (Op-Ed): Internet voting remains a risky method of casting election ballots

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The Hill (Op-Ed): Internet voting remains a risky method of casting election ballots

Unfortunately, online voting is not yet a secure method of casting a ballot. The risks are many. Malware on a voter’s personal device could alter a voter’s selections or replace ballot images with fakes. Experts have noted that “Consumer-grade devices with consumer-grade protections are no match for a motivated attacker, particularly if the attacker is a nation-state.” Targeted denial of service attacks could disenfranchise thousands of voters and alter election outcomes.  Voter authentication credentials could be stolen. The list...

Politico: Inside Mike Johnson’s Ties to a Far-Right Movement to Gut the Constitution

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Politico: Inside Mike Johnson’s Ties to a Far-Right Movement to Gut the Constitution

Watchdog groups like the American Constitution Society and Common Cause are sounding the alarm over the real danger of such a convention.

“The worst case scenario is that [an Article V convention] puts all of our cherished constitutional rights and civil rights completely up for grabs,” Stephen Spaulding, vice president of Common Cause, testified at Johnson’s subcommittee hearing last month.

PolitiFact: Dispelling a common myth about fentanyl as election workers get letters with traces of the substance

News Clip

PolitiFact: Dispelling a common myth about fentanyl as election workers get letters with traces of the substance

"Election officials are just doing their job — they are not putting their thumb on the scale, they are not in charge of what the results are," said Suzanne Almeida, state operations director at Common Cause, a group advocating for accessible voting. "They are incredibly dedicated public servants, especially in the face of these threats."

Washington Post: Noncitizen voting campaigns elicit different results in liberal Md. suburbs

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Washington Post: Noncitizen voting campaigns elicit different results in liberal Md. suburbs

“We view municipalities as these laboratories of democracy. They’re able to implement a lot of the reforms that we’re working on at a state level,” said Joanne Antoine, executive director of grass-roots voter-advocacy group Common Cause Maryland.

“The more that municipalities pass these reforms, show that young people are capable of voting, the more we can push them elsewhere. … My hope is that we’ll come back to these things again,” she said.

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