Election Protection

On Monday, the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that struck down North Carolina's sweeping restrictions on voting access, which included implementation of a voter ID requirement, cuts to early voting and elimination of same-day voter registration.

As more key witnesses testify before Congressional committees it is becoming increasingly clear that only an independent commission can do a credible investigation of the Russian attack on the 2016 presidential investigation. In a new letter to Congress sent today, Common Cause urged Member to convene an independent body with the power and will to follow the investigation wherever it leads.

Today, local Common Cause activists delivered a petition to Gov. Terry Branstad at the Capitol urging him to veto a new voter suppression bill passed by the legislature. House File 516 requires voters to show specific forms of government-issued identification at the polls and will roll-back early voting opportunities.

Common Cause is urging Georgia election officials to use paper ballots to safeguard the integrity of next month’s congressional special election in light of the cyberattack on Kennesaw State University Elections Center. In a letter to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, Common Cause emphasized the need to use both paper ballots and paper poll books.

We may be missing the forest for the trees in the Russian election hacking story: The Kremlin’s attempt to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election is part of a much bigger tale of Russian covert action.

An energized press and an increasingly restive Congress are ramping up challenges to the Trump administration as evidence mounts of troubling connections between the fledgling presidency and the Russian government.