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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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New York Times: New Group Joins the Political Fight Over Disinformation Online

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New York Times: New Group Joins the Political Fight Over Disinformation Online

“Disinformation will remain an issue as long as the strategic gains of engaging in it, promoting it and profiting from it outweigh consequences for spreading it,” Common Cause, the nonpartisan public interest group, wrote in a report published last week that warned of a new wave of disinformation around this year’s vote.

New Report Previews 2024 Election Disinformation

Press Release

New Report Previews 2024 Election Disinformation

A new report from Common Cause examines the serious and growing threat posed by disinformation in the 2024 election. “Storm Watch: Protecting Voters from Disinformation in the 2024 Election” outlines what we have seen and what we anticipate in the months leading up to November 5, and beyond. The report points to the continuing critical need to combat election disinformation at a time when artificial intelligence (AI) has become more accessible and social media platforms have drastically reduced efforts to control the expanding threat to...

44 GROUPS URGE LAWMAKERS TO CO-SPONSOR INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY ACT, RESTORE VOTING RIGHTS OF MILLIONS AHEAD OF THE ELECTION

Press Release

44 GROUPS URGE LAWMAKERS TO CO-SPONSOR INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY ACT, RESTORE VOTING RIGHTS OF MILLIONS AHEAD OF THE ELECTION

Today, 44 organizations representing the National Voting in Prison Coalition sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives urging them to co-sponsor the Inclusive Democracy Act (IDA), legislation to end felony disenfranchisement in federal elections for individuals completing their sentence inside and outside of prison and jail. The IDA was introduced earlier this year by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-7). Currently, the IDA has 23 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and is awaiting a hearing.

Boston Globe: Public records undergird R.I.’s biggest news stories

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Boston Globe: Public records undergird R.I.’s biggest news stories

“There’s extreme public interest on what happened on that trip,” Common Cause Rhode Island Executive Director John M. Marion said, noting that one of the former state officials, David Patten, was recently fined $5,000 by the state Ethics Commission for accepting a free lunch at an upscale Sicilian restaurant during that trip. ”So great example of sort of how public records get us information that holds government officials accountable.”

Oregon Capital Insider: Oregon lawmakers pass first campaign finance limits in 50 years

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Oregon Capital Insider: Oregon lawmakers pass first campaign finance limits in 50 years

Kate Titus, executive director of Common Cause Oregon, said she never bought into the assumption that legislators could do nothing about regulating campaign finances.

“The question is not whether we can do anything to restrict the influence of big money. It is: Will we? I think what we have finally seen this legislative session is that we will,” Titus said. “What we passed here is not everything we need. There is still work to be done. But it is a big leap forward for Oregon.”

Yahoo! News/Texas Tribune: Most 18-year-old Texans aren’t signed up to vote despite a law requiring voter registration in high schools

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Yahoo! News/Texas Tribune: Most 18-year-old Texans aren’t signed up to vote despite a law requiring voter registration in high schools

Katya Ehresman, voting rights program manager at Common Cause Texas, noted that some states reward schools that register students. Tennessee acknowledges schools that reach a certain voter registration threshold, and Pennsylvania has a governor’s civic engagement award to celebrate schools that register 85% of eligible students to vote, for example.

Common Cause also recommends that the secretary of state’s office mail each school voter registration applications, instead of requiring schools to request them twice a year.

Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer: FirstEnergy made secret $1 million payment for ‘Husted campaign’ in 2017, documents show

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Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer: FirstEnergy made secret $1 million payment for ‘Husted campaign’ in 2017, documents show

Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, said the records showing the payment is another example of why Ohio needs greater transparency in political spending. We're still learning about public officials proximity to a bribery scandal after years of a swarm of criminal, civil, and regulatory investigations, she said.

The complicated picture is a feature and not a bug, she said. The system is built to hide malfeasance.

"What we do know from this is the governor and lieutenant governor are very...

Washington Times: Defendants not named ‘Trump’ usually go to trial years after indictment

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Washington Times: Defendants not named ‘Trump’ usually go to trial years after indictment

Meanwhile, the fair election advocacy group Common Cause filed a brief supporting Mr. Smith at the Supreme Court in the D.C. case over Mr. Trump's claim of absolute immunity, saying the justices must decide the issue swiftly so the trial can take place before the November election and, ironically, so politics don't appear to be at play.

"The American people deserve a trial and a verdict on these serious charges before they go to the polls in November," said Virginia Kase Solomón, president of Common Cause. "The presumptive...

Common Cause Urges SCOTUS to Rule Quickly in Trump v. U.S. to Avoid Perception of Bias

Press Release

Common Cause Urges SCOTUS to Rule Quickly in Trump v. U.S. to Avoid Perception of Bias

Today, Common Cause filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States urging the court to decide Donald J. Trump v. United States expeditiously in order to avoid perceptions of political bias and to allow a lower court trial of the former president on conspiracy and corruption charges to be held before the November presidential election.

PolitiFact: FALSE: Texas found that 95,000 noncitizens were registered to vote.

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PolitiFact: FALSE: Texas found that 95,000 noncitizens were registered to vote.

"For those of us who’ve worked in Texas politics for years, it was a huge deal because you almost never see a gubernatorial appointee fail to get confirmed by the state senate," Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause Texas, a voting advocacy group, told PolitiFact. "It goes to show just how wildly false their claim of 95,000 non-citizens being on the voter rolls was that it resulted in the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature refusing to confirm the nomination of the Republican governor."

Salon/Yahoo! News: Rebooting digital equality: FCC to restore net neutrality, reversing Trump-era repeal

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Salon/Yahoo! News: Rebooting digital equality: FCC to restore net neutrality, reversing Trump-era repeal

Government watchdog group Common Cause has long championed net neutrality protections, arguing that the rules protect the public's right to the equal access of publicly-funded internet infrastructure.

“The internet is a gateway to democracy for many and every voter has the right to a free and fair internet. From looking up information about candidates to finding polling sites, this net neutrality proposal will make it easier for every voter to participate in our modern democracy. We strongly encourage the FCC to restore net...

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