Voting & Elections

“This is a state-by-state decision and we know there is not a one size fits all solution for every state,” said Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for Common Cause. “With that said, we are encouraging states to act now to ensure that the November election is accessible, fair, and secure for all voters. That includes expanding existing vote by mail systems, but also other options such as early voting.” ... “Since vote by mail is a paper-based system, it cannot be hacked and is a great system for post-election audits to ensure the outcome of the election is correct,” Albert said. 

“I don’t think many people who are aware of what’s going on, and are tuned into politics and government in this state, would say that it’s anything even resembling a democracy,” said Jay Heck, the executive director of the Wisconsin chapter of Common Cause, a government watchdog group. ... “They view this as an opportunity to be able to extend one-party rule in this state for another 10 years,” Heck said. “If they can do that, they can do it in a great many other states as well.”

If state legislatures do not expand mail-in voting soon, legal challenges like the ones that resulted in Wisconsin’s chaotic primary will be waged right up until the presidential election, said Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog group. “What you saw in Wisconsin would be happening in November,” Albert said.

"Right now we're focusing on making sure that no voter is disenfranchised during this health crisis," Karen Hobert Flynn, president of the nonpartisan pro-democracy group Common Cause, said on a call with reporters.

Today, Common Cause called on Congress to hold emergency hearings to examine why Wisconsin voters were forced to risk their lives by standing in lines at polling places on April 7th during the COVID-19 pandemic when public gatherings were prohibited in the state. The letter to the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and the Committee on House Administration also urged the committees to explore how other states are adjusting their elections to ensure that all voters can be counted during the current pandemic in both the primaries and the general election. The letter also emphasizes the need for Congress to provide additional election funding to states in its next stimulus bill to help ensure every American is able to cast their ballot in a safe and secure manner.

Jay Heck, the Wisconsin director of Common Cause, a voting-rights advocacy group, said voters face a difficult choice between wanting to vote and protecting their health. “Wisconsin’s absentee ballot rules are no doubt disenfranchising voters,” Heck said. Heck said the governor and Legislature have seven months to correct the problem to “avoid this kind of chaos” for the November general election.