Voting Rights

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at the nonpartisan pro-democracy group Common Cause, said the tidal wave of early litigation suggests that Republicans and Democrats will have more potential targets for emergency lawsuits that could swing the race. “Both parties will be looking at every state to see whether a lawsuit could help their candidate win,” Albert said. “I think there’s a likelihood of Florida times 10.”

Citing all the disarray in Georgia’s elections this year, public interest groups wonder whether it was an accident. “Secretary Raffensperger has been looking for reasons to cast doubt on Georgia’s mail-in ballot system for months,” said Aunna Dennis, the executive director of Common Cause Georgia. “He would have served us all better if he had invested that time and energy into preventing the problems that occurred in June.”

“We have seen already that the President’s rhetoric is affecting the confidence that voters have in vote-by-mail, particularly, and also in elections in general,” Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections at Common Cause, testified to Congress on Aug. 4.

Solution: Congress should pass a new coronavirus relief bill that includes $3.6 billion for states to administer elections. With increased resources, states can begin to recruit, hire more workers at a higher wage and organize mass trainings. Local governments should try to find new kinds of poll workers: colleges could give their students credit, employers could provide paid time off and local governments could assign employees to the polls. Companies could help, too. Which sports team will award season tickets to a poll worker? Which restaurant will offer unlimited visits for a year? Which television show will offer a cameo? We need resources, innovative thinking, and commitment from lawmakers, election officials and every sector of the country.

Common Cause and its North Carolina affiliate filed the complaint with the North Carolina Attorney General’s office on Wednesday, as the five-year federal statute of limitations for the alleged crimes has passed. There is no statute of limitations for felonies in North Carolina. “This troubling fundraising scheme allegedly perpetrated by Louis DeJoy has the appearance of bypassing North Carolina’s campaign finance limits in order to illicitly buy political access and curry favor with elected officials,” Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause NC, said in a statement. “These allegations should be thoroughly investigated and, if true, Mr. DeJoy must be held accountable.”

One organization, Common Cause Georgia, expressed concern about Mr. Raffensperger’s announcement. The group issued a statement accusing him of fanning fears about election integrity by “looking for reasons to cast doubt on Georgia’s mail-in ballot system.” “We wholeheartedly agree that people who intentionally vote twice should be subject to the usual criminal penalties for election law violations,” said the statement by Aunna Dennis, the organization’s executive director. “But we are concerned that voters who were simply trying to vote may get caught up in the dragnet.”