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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.

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St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Tribune News Service: Schmitt’s office did not keep travel records after 2020, raising transparency concerns

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St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Tribune News Service: Schmitt’s office did not keep travel records after 2020, raising transparency concerns

“When an elected official runs for another public office, it doesn’t, in any way, absolve them from complying with freedom of information requests or public information requests,” said Aaron Scherb, the legislative affairs director for Common Cause, a national nonpartisan group that advocates for government transparency. “Public officials work on the taxpayers’ dime. And it’s important that citizens can get the transparency and accountability that they deserve from their elected officials at all times.”

The News & Observer: Supreme Court’s ‘independent state legislature’ case: How we got here, and what’s next

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The News & Observer: Supreme Court’s ‘independent state legislature’ case: How we got here, and what’s next

Kathay Feng, who leads anti-gerrymandering efforts for the national group Common Cause, calls it “the case of the century” — and not out of admiration.

“It is a case that asserts a bizarre and fabricated reading of the United States Constitution ... to create a situation where elections are already rigged from the start,” she said.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Tribune News Service: Georgians encouraged to vote in-person rather than by mail in runoff

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Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Tribune News Service: Georgians encouraged to vote in-person rather than by mail in runoff

“When you’re with your family and friends this Thanksgiving, remind everyone to make a plan of how they’ll cast a ballot in the U.S. Senate race,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director for Common Cause Georgia. “These close races come down to 1% margins, and you could be the 1% that moves Georgia forward.”

The Oregonian: Political donors spent more than $70 million on Oregon governor’s race

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The Oregonian: Political donors spent more than $70 million on Oregon governor’s race

“Each election, spending rises exponentially,” said Kate Titus, executive director of Common Cause Oregon, another good government group that supports contribution limits. “It will continue to do so until we demand otherwise. We know what tools help rein in the corrupting influence of money in politics — a combination of limits, transparency, and matching funds to make small dollar campaigns viable. It’s time that Oregon lawmakers act to put this in place.”

Newsweek: Will Trump Staying Off Twitter Doom Him Politically?

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Newsweek: Will Trump Staying Off Twitter Doom Him Politically?

While some figures on Twitter continued to share disinformation on the platform around the 2022 midterm election cycle, Jesse Littlewood, vice president of campaigns at the nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause, told Newsweek that the amount of disinformation about election integrity substantially decreased after Trump left the platform, falling below levels seen in the 2018 midterms, according to a survey by online monitoring platform Zignal Labs published in the Washington Post. ...

Trump, Littlewood said, was a thought...

The New Yorker: How to Fix Our Remaining Election Vulnerabilities

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The New Yorker: How to Fix Our Remaining Election Vulnerabilities

Good-government groups such as Common Cause have been going after gerrymanders in both Democratic and Republican states for some time. The Supreme Court, in a 2019 case, held that federal courts can’t hear claims of partisan gerrymandering. The Court said that there’s just no standard to apply, and so federal courts are closed—there are other ways of dealing with these problems. Some states have created redistricting commissions; others have state courts that have policed partisan gerrymandering.

That’s what happened in...

Common Cause Submits Comments to FTC Highlighting Commercial Surveillance Harms to Democracy & Civil Rights

Press Release

Common Cause Submits Comments to FTC Highlighting Commercial Surveillance Harms to Democracy & Civil Rights

Today, Common Cause submitted comments in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking public comment on the harms stemming from commercial surveillance and whether new rules are needed to protect people’s privacy and information. The comments highlight the unique harms to democracy and civil rights caused by modern commercial surveillance practices and put forward solutions for how the FTC can adequately address these harms. 

Ohio Capital Journal: Legal expert, voter advocates slam Ohio GOP plan to make citizen ballot initiatives harder to pass

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Ohio Capital Journal: Legal expert, voter advocates slam Ohio GOP plan to make citizen ballot initiatives harder to pass

Some activists, like Catherine Turcer with Common Cause Ohio, say this would make it significantly harder for Ohioans, regardless of political affiliation, to have their voices heard.

“It’s just like putting your hand on the scale making it even harder for citizens to challenge the authority of the state legislature,” she said. “And direct democracy is about a check on the state legislature.”

“We’re talking about the need to do a citizen initiative to take the mapmaking away from elected officials...

Center for Public Integrity: What voter turnout shows, and hides, about elections

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Center for Public Integrity: What voter turnout shows, and hides, about elections

Generally, turnout considers “the number of registered voters who actually get to the polls or send in their mail-in ballots,” said Khalif Ali of Common Cause Pennsylvania. ...

The delays happen, in part, because Pennsylvania is one of nine states that forbids election workers from processing ballots before Election Day. The state’s Democratic governor and Republican-controlled legislature haven’t been able to agree on a bill to change that. Most other U.S. states, including Florida, New Jersey and Wyoming, do allow...

WIRED: Twitter’s Moderation System Is in Tatters

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WIRED: Twitter’s Moderation System Is in Tatters

Even when researchers can get through to Twitter, responses are slow—sometimes taking more than a day. Jesse Littlewood, vice president of campaigns at the nonprofit Common Cause, says he’s noticed that when his organization reports tweets that clearly violate Twitter’s policies, those posts are now less likely to get taken down.

Austin American-Statesman: Fight goes on over election confusion; 3,000 complaints, most on ‘mundane’ matters

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Austin American-Statesman: Fight goes on over election confusion; 3,000 complaints, most on ‘mundane’ matters

The bulk of the nearly 3,000 complaints that voters filed this election season with Common Cause Texas, a nonpartisan voter advocacy group, reflected procedural problems. People having difficulty figuring out where to vote, or whether they were eligible, or how they could correct a problem with their mail-in ballot. People not being told what to do with the printed ballot containing their selections. Or people, particularly in Harris County, arriving at a precinct that had run out of the paper used to print ballots.

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