Press Release
Voting Rights Group: Too Soon to Abandon Early Voting
"Without a high-stakes election or any funding to educate the public, it is too soon for the Secretary of the State to abandon early voting."
Press
Media Contacts
David Vance
National Media Strategist
dvance@commoncause.org
240-605-8600
Katie Scally
Communications Director
kscally@commoncause.org
408-205-1257
Common Cause’s network of national and state democracy reform experts are frequent media commentators. To talk with one of our experts, please reach out to any member of the press team above.
News Clip
COVID-19 Is Still An Excuse For Absentee Ballots
Connecticut voters are eligible to cast absentee ballots during the coming Nov. 2 municipal elections as a result of legislative action which once again expanded voting options due to the pandemic, state and local officials advised Tuesday.
News Clip
The Day: Common Cause, local legislators weigh in on redistricting
"Almeida said Common Cause has long supported an independent redistricting commission model where the people actually drawing district lines 'are everyday people, not politicians, not lobbyists, people without conflicts of interest.' Still, Almeida and others were realistic in recognizing the current system. They said there were different ways to protect the integrity of the redistricting process, whether through the committee or commission utilizing nonpartisan staff, allowing an abundance of public input and making sure the lawmakers...
News Clip
WSHU: Connecticut Voters’ Group Speaks Out Against Gerrymandering
“We make sure that districts do not remove voting rights from Black and Brown and other people of color. And that we try to retain some contiguity and some continuity in the communities to benefit the voters not to benefit the elected officials,” Quickmire said.
Press Release
VIDEO LINKS AND QUOTES from Today’s Media Briefing: What’s Happening and What’s at Stake for Connecticut in 2021
Earlier today, a panel of national and local redistricting experts briefed the media on the current state play in Connecticut’s redistricting cycle. The group of experts described how and why a fair redistricting process should be conducted, and how Connecticut’s current process misses the mark when it comes to transparency and public engagement.
News Clip
CT Post: In Stratford, battle lines being drawn over Town Council lines
“I’d defy anybody to show me how Lordship reaching over to the Devon Bridge or District 2 being a five-armed octopus is either compact or contiguous,” Democratic Registrar of Voters Jim Simon said. “These things are not done by accident.”
Republicans say the maps are the result of shifts in census data.
“Redistricting is purely population driven,” GOP Registrar Lou DeCilio, who is also the chairman of the Republican Town Committee, said. “It has nothing to do with ethnicity, income level or...
Republicans say the maps are the result of shifts in census data.
“Redistricting is purely population driven,” GOP Registrar Lou DeCilio, who is also the chairman of the Republican Town Committee, said. “It has nothing to do with ethnicity, income level or...
News Clip
CT News Junkie: Redistricting Moves Beyond Deadline To Next Phase
“Redistricting will determine the voting power of our neighborhoods, towns, and cities for the next ten years,” Quickmire said. “That’s why it’s so important that we, the people, have a say in how our maps are drawn. When the people are involved, we can be sure that maps are drawn to benefit us, not the politicians.”
News Clip
CT Mirror: Delayed by COVID, Connecticut’s redistricting ramps up
Redistricting traditionally has been conducted out of the public eye, brokered by Democratic and Republican legislative caucus leaders sensitive to the wants and needs of incumbents — namely, district maps that will enhance chances for re-election, not invite competition.
News Clip
CT News Junkie: Redistricting Committee Seeks Public Input
The Connecticut Reapportionment Committee will conduct a hearing in Hartford at the Legislative Office Building 7 p.m., Sept. 8. A second hearing will be held at the town hall in Norwich 1 p.m., Sept. 9. The third event will take place at the city hall in Shelton at 1 p.m. on Sept. 13. Meanwhile, the committee scheduled a virtual hearing for 7 p.m., Sept. 14.
News Clip
Secretary of the State Candidates Filling Field
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill announced in June she would not seek a fourth term, making her the only constitutional officer not expected to run for reelection. The first stirrings of a primary race have begun to take shape in the weeks since.
News Clip
CT Insider: Will your neighborhood switch political districts? Population changes create a puzzle
“'The important thing is making sure the process is transparent so people understand why the lines are moving,' said Cheri Quickmire, executive director of Common Cause in Connecticut, the election watchdog group..."
News Clip
CT News Junkie: New Law Will Shift Population, Investment
Waterbury will receive the largest boost in representation under a newly-adopted law counting prison inmates as members of voting districts where they lived prior to incarceration. The town of Enfield will see the largest decline under the change.
News Clip
NBC CT: Connecticut Readies Redistricting Process, Will Count Inmates In Home Districts
“Representation is very important. We know that gerrymandering had taken place for years in this country,” Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, said.
“When we do look at data, when we do look at drawing lines that has to be taken into consideration,“ McCrory says.
“When we do look at data, when we do look at drawing lines that has to be taken into consideration,“ McCrory says.