Disclosure & Transparency

Our democracy has endured wars, pandemics, natural disasters and now a lawless president. And despite that, next year will likely bring more unexpected challenges that we’ll confront as a nation. We nonetheless must be thankful for what we have, as imperfect as our system is. Change has often been cyclical, and following the scandals of the Trump administration, we may soon have a once-in-a-generation opportunity. If one thing is clear, it’s that we’re on the doorstep of passing a comprehensive reform package to put “we the people” back in charge of our democracy.

Similarly, Jesse Littlewood, vice president of campaigns at Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog group, told ABC News that some of Facebook's actions have been inefficient. "I would give them a mixed grade," said Littlewood. "On the one hand, they've been quick on some issues, but I still think they step in after a post has been circulating on the web for a while when damage has already been done and there's already a huge amount of influence."

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for Common Cause, a nonpartisan election watchdog group, told the AP, “There’s no evidence of this taking place.” Albert said that under the Help America Vote Act, the first time anyone votes it has to be verified with identification. “Yes it’s possible for someone’s maiden name to be on the voter rolls during the time in which the name is being changed and the records are being updated,” Albert said. But voting using someone else’s identity is a crime and could not be accomplished by thousands of people in different states.

"He's saying that he needs donors' money for election-challenge litigation, but he's putting the money into an account to be used for his political future," said Paul Ryan, the vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause. Fundraising limits are higher for leadership PACs than candidate committees. A donor could only contribute a maximum of $2,800 at this point for a 2024 presidential campaign but can contribute $20,000 to a leadership PAC in four, annual installments by that date, Ryan notes. The rules on spending by leadership PACs also are far more relaxed than those for campaign committees and do not restrict politicians from using donors' funds for personal expenses -- a use forbidden in a presidential campaign account. "Leadership PACs are notoriously abused by politicians as slush funds without violating any laws," Ryan said.

On Thursday, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the watchdog group Common Cause submitted a joint letter to Jack Dorsey, the Twitter CEO, requesting Trump’s account be temporarily suspended to prevent the spread of misinformation about the election. “We fear that, in the absence of action by Twitter, the president may be successful in his goal of delegitimizing the integrity of our democratic processes for many, and not just Twitter users but other voters and members of the public, sowing uncertainty about the voting and elections process, and potentially inciting violence against civil servants or others,” the groups wrote. A Twitter spokesperson said the company has received the letter and “intends to respond”.

Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn explained that "we are a democracy and democracies count all the votes. But the president is freely using his Twitter account in an attempt to deliberately undermine the nation's vote count and undercut Americans' faith in our elections." "We are urging Twitter to take immediate action to enforce its own policies and curb President Trump's Twitter campaign to spread disinformation and sow unrest amongst his followers," she added. "The president's actions are dangerous and irresponsible and Twitter has an obligation to be a responsible corporate citizen and safeguard our democracy."