Voting & Elections

“It’s complex, but it’s a smart, strategic bill,” said Khalif Ali, the head of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a good-government advocacy group opposed to the legislation. “It’s definitely the wolf in sheep’s clothing. There are some decent pieces in there that we can’t say honestly … that we would be against.” Ali spoke approvingly of increased poll worker pay and changes that would allow processing of mail ballots before Election Day — something elections officials have long requested and that could have prevented the days-long wait for results last fall. But he also decried signature verification for mail ballots and other provisions as making it harder for some people to vote.

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Georgia challenging voting restrictions enacted since the 2020 election that federal authorities allege discriminate against Black Americans. The suit challenges Georgia’s so-called “Election Integrity Act,” which was passed in March by the Republican majority in the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp. The law imposes new limits on the use of absentee ballots, gives the legislature greater control over elections in the state, and makes it a crime for outside groups to provide food and water to voters waiting at polling stations.

"These election workers are feeling the brunt of former President Trump and various Republican allies lying about the election," said Sylvia Albert, voting and elections director for the government watchdog group Common Cause. "All of a sudden, these election workers are part of some vast conspiracy." Albert says that what election officials have described represents "a level of threat and intimidation against election officials that you just don't see in a democracy." "We're seeing election officials receive death threats, they've been doxed, they're in hiding," Albert said. The prospect of experienced election workers resigning from these already "thankless jobs," as Albert described them, raises an even more troubling question: Who will replace them?

Tonight, there were no surprises in the opening act of the push to pass the For the People Act in the United States Senate. But grassroots momentum continues to build in a fight that will go on all summer as we continue to make the case to the American people and their representatives in Washington that this legislation must be passed to expand the freedom to vote, break the grip of big money in politics, end gerrymandering, and crack down on corruption.  

“Our summer of mobilization and grassroots actions to pass this bill will continue. Democracy will prevail. Failure is not an option,” Karen Hobert Flynn, president of government watchdog Common Cause, said in a statement.

“Democracy takes time, and every vote counts,” said Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, a good government group. “Accurate and fair election results are worth waiting for.”