Election Integrity

Today, Common Cause urged Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) to enforce House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes’ recusal from the committee’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Nunes recused himself from the investigation after he was accused of disclosing classified information in an attempt to justify false claims by Donald Trump that the Obama Administration had “wiretapped” Trump Tower. But last week Chairman Nunes ignored his recusal and used his power as committee chair to subpoena intelligence service materials related to the “unmasking” of Trump campaign officials for their contacts with Russian government officials and intermediaries.

In a win for electoral infrastructure, Minnesota’s latest State Government Finance Bill creates a $7 million fund to upgrade the state’s voting equipment.

While the Trump administration seems to be constantly retreating from government accountability, many states are leading the way to ensure a government of, by, and for the people. Just this week, action in three states and Washington, D.C. shows that real change is possible.

Illinois appears set to join the list of states that are making voting easier by automatically registering eligible citizens when they do business with state agencies.

President Trump’s establishment of the Presidential Commission on Voter Integrity is “a futile attempt to justify… groundless claims that millions of people voted illegally, and a pretext for future suppression,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-DE, told a Washington forum on Wednesday.

Greater access to voting in North Carolina has been restored! The U.S. Supreme Court declined today to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that a North Carolina voting law passed in 2013 is unconstitutional and discriminates against African-Americans.