Abuse of Power

"The current process right now will not even inform the public that anything is happening one way or the other," Heather Ferguson, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico. She said the process is "completely behind closed doors and out of public view. That does not instill trust in the public in the process itself." Nor will it encourage others who may have similar complaints against lawmakers to come forward, Ferguson added.

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at Common Cause, describes provisions like the Texas one and accompanying voting restrictions as “death by a thousand cuts.” “When you put so many restrictions on the election that a certain percentage of people can’t vote or don’t have votes counted then the election is no longer a reflection of the will of the people,” Albert says.

"Anytime you add a step to the process ... you lose voters who are making a good-faith effort to cast their ballot," said Katya Ehresman, the grassroots organizer for Common Cause Texas, a nonpartisan group that advocates for government reform.

Constitutional amendments – which must be passed in identical form in two legislative sessions before being presented to voters on a ballot – should be used sparingly. And they certainly should not be used to let one branch of government sidestep the checks and balances of the other branches. But Pennsylvania legislators are now using the amendment process to take power from other branches of government and increase their own influence.

"If there was the will to engage in a robust bipartisan process, they would have already established a schedule," said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio. "It just feels like a merry-go-round or some sort of weird Groundhog Day."

Critics of the map argued it diluted the power of minority voters. Bob Phillips, the executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, one of the map’s challengers, told reporters on a call Wednesday that the state wants to be “the leader of the path forward to a better way with regards to redistricting.” “We watched all this train wreck and simply decided we could not sit back and see racist gerrymandered maps locked in for the next decade that will ensure one party in power at the expense of voters of color,” Phillips said.