Gerrymandering/Redistricting

Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause, said the census affects the fair distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal funding annually for “critical resources like food assistance, medical supplies for COVID-19 recovery, youth programs, and affordable housing.” “This memorandum by President Trump is a blatant attempt to skew how electoral districts are drawn, instill fear and chaos in immigrant communities, and send a message to his white supremacist base,” she said.

The U.S. Constitution enshrines a uniquely American invention: to conduct a Census each ten years to count every person living in the United States of America in order to determine representation in the Congress. Today, counting every person also ensured that $1.5 trillion in federal funding for critical resources like food assistance, medical supplies for COVID-19 recovery, youth programs, and affordable housing is also fairly distributed. Today, President Trump has issued a memorandum ordering the Census Bureau to exclude undocumented immigrants from the apportionment base used to allocate congressional seats following the 2020 Census. 

People Not Politicians Oregon v. Clarno challenges Oregon's failure to adjust signature-gathering requirements for ballot initiative campaigns in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

“This is really a make or break moment for Oregonians to enact a fair and transparent process in time for the 2021 redistricting,” Kate Titus, executive director of Common Cause Oregon, said during a Tuesday news conference featuring redistricting reform advocates from numerous states. To abide by social distancing, Oregon activists mailed petition signature forms to about a half-million households that each had at least two registered voters, Titus said. They have been getting back thousands of signed petitions daily. But “at this point,” she said, “it’s really too hard to tell” whether organizers will meet the deadline for the 149,360 valid signatures needed for the proposed constitutional amendment.

Kate Titus is executive director of Common Cause Oregon, whose goal is to make the political process fair, transparent and more democratic. She is currently helping to lead People Not Politicians Oregon, a coalition circulating petitions to get an initiative on the November ballot that would create an independent commission to draw boundaries for the Legislature and congressional districts. Our recent conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Today, Common Cause called on Congress to increase funding for the Census Bureau and the states to tackle the unprecedented challenges of conducting the Census during the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter also urges Congress to ensure Census Bureau funding is being used solely to compile critical data products and to thoroughly evaluate the Trump administration’s request to delay the Census data delivery deadline which will create significant problems for redistricting deadlines in numerous states.