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Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Yahoo! News: Texas voter fraud activist leads closed-door poll watcher training at Arlington church
Such training sessions and the election day actions for which they prepare attendees are less about ensuring integrity in Texas elections than they are about voter intimidation, according to Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause Texas, a nongovernmental organization that works to expand voting rights. While he was unaware of what Pressley’s session was to cover, he said in a phone interview that such groups “seem to be going out of their way to use poll watchers to intimidate or at least harass voters of color in different parts of the states.” Gutierrez pointed to a 2021 video of a Harris County Republican Party presentation in which a man identifying with the county’s Republican Party said that they were trying to recruit an “army” of 10,000 poll workers to fight voter fraud. In the video, the presenter can be seen using a cursor to point to a predominantly white part of Houston. He says that they were looking to recruit people with “the confidence and courage to come down in here” — moving the cursor to predominantly Black and Brown communities — to fight voter fraud. Gutierrez expressed concern over the lack of transparency of Tuesday’s training session in Arlington. “If groups are kicking people out of their training, you have to wonder what they’re training people on,” he said.
Found in: Common Cause
Indiana Capital Chronicle: Controversial elections security bill could see changes
Julia Vaughn, who leads government watchdog Common Cause Indiana, similarly asked the committee to instead turn its attention to the BMV. “It seems backwards to attack this by examining the voter’s status. Why not get the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to quit illegally registering people?” she asked.
Found in: Common Cause
Yahoo! News/Politico: Adams’ pledge of government efficiency remains out of reach
“It’s that baseline of service that really affects how people think about their government,” said Susan Lerner of Common Cause New York, a government reform group. “It’s not about speeches and the big issues; it’s about whether you’ve made a noise complaint and nobody gets back to you for a week.” For Lerner, head of Common Cause, the city’s recent budget cuts — coupled with a struggle to fill vacant positions and a hiring freeze — could hurt the Adams administration’s ability to maintain the nuts and bolts of city government. Frustrations over those basics became palpable for her last year when a fire hydrant on her block began leaking in the summer. Repeated calls to 311 eventually led to visits from the fire and building department personnel, but they failed to stop the flow. Despite repeated follow-up calls, the hydrant continued to leak for months. Eventually, her neighbors inundated local elected officials with calls complaining about the lack of city responsiveness. "And guess what,” Lerner said. “In two weeks it got fixed."
Found in: Common Cause
Providence Journal: Access to public records was a problem in the bridge shutdown. Will that help reforms pass?
"It's a perfect example of something that is in the public interest," John Marion Jr., executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said Thursday about the Washington Bridge emails.
Found in: Common Cause
Common Dreams: FCC Announces New Rule to Confront Deepfake Robocalls
Ishan Mehta, media and democracy program director for Common Cause, said the calls in New Hampshire last month represented "only the tip of the iceberg" and warned that "it is critically important that the FCC now use this authority to fine violators and block the telephone companies that carry the calls." Mehta called on Congress to pass the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act, which would prohibit the distribution ofdeceptive AI-generated audio, images, or video relating to federal candidates in political ads. "We hope that both the House and the Senate will follow the example of the FCC," said Mehta, "whose Democratic and Republican commissioners recognized the threat posed by AI and came together in a unanimous vote to outlaw robocalls utilizing AI voice-cloning tools."
Found in: Common Cause
PolitiFact/Austin American-Statesman: Elon Musk wrong to say Joe Biden is recruiting immigrants to create a Democratic majority
It’s easy to discount such "conspiracy theory nonsense" from random trolls on X, but it’s powerful when it comes from Musk, who owns the platform, said Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause Texas, a group that advocates for voting rights. Democracies require participation, and falsehoods "only increase the likelihood that people will lose faith in our elections and simply opt out," Gutierrez said.
Found in: Common Cause
USA Today: Hawaii looks to combat AI-generated deepfakes and disinformation ahead of 2024 elections
The legislation has also received support from non-profit pro-democracy groups such as Public Citizen and Common Cause Hawaii. Camron Hurt, program manager for Common Cause Hawaii, called the threat of AI deepfakes “a big issue for democracy right now.” “The cat’s out of the bag, technology has outpaced our laws. But now we must catch up and it’s important that we spearhead and that we help lead that charge and make sure that harmful AI deep fakes and alike are removed from any way of being in our elections," Hurt said.
Found in: Common Cause
Lincoln Journal Star (Op-Ed): Honoring a compromise
If the 2024 session is to be a new leaf as Speaker Arch pleaded, then Sen. Halloran needs to honor his agreement. Any attempts to pass an Article V resolution should be shelved until 2027. Keeping promises and compromises for their full term would indeed be a “model” for other state legislatures.
Found in: Common Cause
The Guardian: US supreme court to hear arguments on keeping Trump off 2024 ballot
“Our democracy is not a chaotic free-for-all in which anyone can be elected. The voters are entitled to decide within the framework of the applicable rules,” the good government group Common Cause wrote in an amicus brief supporting the challengers. “If Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment (“Section 3”) is not enforced in this case, there is a genuine risk that our system of government will not survive,” they wrote.
Found in: Common Cause
Democracy Docket: How Should SCOTUS Apply Section 3 of the 14th Amendment? Amicus Briefs in Trump’s Disqualification Case Have Different Answers
Common Cause reminds the Court that the Constitution possesses checks and balances for the very expressed purpose of preserving constitutional order. Their brief highlights many restrictions on who voters can select including restrictions on age and term limits. They aver that elections must follow the rules laid in the Constitution and the Court must not shy away from public pressure to ignore their duty to the Constitution. The Framers of the Constitution recognized that protecting democracy would require “uncommon portion of fortitude” when going against “the major voice of the community,” Common Cause argues .