Voting & Elections

"Every single vote that is put forward is counted but they aren't counted the same — they don't have the same value," said Penny Bernard Schaber, co-chair of Common Cause Wisconsin in Appleton and former Assembly member, at the rally.

"The two ends of that district have nothing in common," Ann Webb, policy director at Common Cause North Carolina, argued at the time, referring specifically to Senate District 2. "They are far from one another; they have different communities, and they should not be gerrymandered into a district together."

“There is a disconnect between what voters want and what the legislature wants,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio. “It just highlights how gerrymandered the state legislature is.”

“The danger (with rhetoric surrounding impeaching Protasiewicz) is that you undermine significant confidence in the court,” said Jay Heck, executive director of the good government group Common Cause Wisconsin. “But one of the problems we have now is that’s not just a function of this past election, that is a function of things that have been occurring going back to 1997. “This is long-term. This is 25 years in the making.”

The groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Common Cause PA, All Voting is Local, PA Voice, Action Together NEPA, and PA Stands Up, called for a full investigation and a report to provide transparency for the public. “The county’s conflicting messages to the public on Election Day led to confusion, concern, and doubt in the security and accuracy of votes. These mistakes grow into misinformation,” said Philip Hensley-Robin, executive director of Common Cause PA.

Today, Common Cause, a national, nonpartisan voting rights organization is urging all Americans to let election workers do their job in response to reports of election offices receiving threatening letters, some laced with fentanyl. The letters were sent to offices in California, Georgia, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington following the November 7 election.