2121 Search Results Containing ":"
The Houston Chronicle: Hundreds can't speak on voting proposal
Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause Texas, said nonmembers participate in committee hearings "all the time." "This deviation from standard practice to prevent a Black woman from engaging in debate on a bill that would impact Black communities disproportionately is appalling," Gutierrez said. "There is... truly nothing more absurd than Briscoe Cain having to adjourn his committee hearing on his bill that would criminalize procedural mistakes people might make while voting because he made a procedural mistake."
Found in: Common Cause
Should Congress pass the For the People Act or John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act? Answer: They must pass both.
Found in: Common Cause
The Fulcrum (Op-Ed): Two smart ways to deter foreign money and dirt-digging from our elections
American democracy is resilient. Last November's election "was the most secure in American history," according to the Department of Homeland Security. In the face of immense challenges — threats of foreign interference, rampant disinformation, risks posed by the pandemic — election administrators, organizers, attorneys and advocates worked together to protect the vote. Americans voted in record numbers, casting their ballots safely by mail, drop box and in person. But the work to secure our elections is not over. Recent investigations have revealed vulnerabilities from foreign actors to political campaigns themselves. Email accounts and cell phones of congressional and campaign staff, for example, can be hacked by foreign actors, who have now grown in number and expanded well beyond those from Russia. Other threats are detailed in the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee findings of last year, the final report from special counsel Robert Mueller and a 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment.
Found in: Common Cause
Los Angeles Times (Commentary): Why MLB should consider moving the 2021 All-Star game from Atlanta
“This is Jim Crow in a suit and a tie,” Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, told The Times. Dennis said the data her group has studied show the effects of the proposed restrictions would have the greatest impact upon Black and other minority voters. “This is definitely an attack on the voting freedoms and the gains we’ve made in the last 60 years,” she said.
Found in: Common Cause
The Guardian: 'Everything is on the table': Senate prepares for showdown over filibuster
Despite those warnings, Stephen Spaulding, senior counsel for public policy and government affairs at Common Cause, a government watchdog group, said that Democrats needed to keep every option on the table. “Senate Democrats have the majority and they need to have the ability to govern,” he said. “This idea that it can be costless to filibuster, that you can essentially raise your hands behind closed doors and grind everything to a halt, is unacceptable.”
Found in: Common Cause
CNN: Putting 'cologne on Jim Crow': Georgia GOP lawmakers drive toward new voting restrictions
Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, said ID requirements for obtaining absentee ballots, would harm older voters, those who are low-income, and college students because they are all less likely to have driver's licenses or other forms of required identification, such as passports or a state or federal photo identification card. Georgia Republicans "are saying that voting should be for the 1% and ... for the privileged," Dennis told CNN.
Found in: Common Cause
CNN: Glory days of Trump's gold-plated 757 seem far away as plane sits idle at a sleepy airport
Trump could use money in his political action committees to pay for the plane upgrades, or other expenses, experts say. "PACs are often used as slush funds," said Paul S. Ryan, an expert on campaign finance and a top lawyer at Common Cause, a good governance non-profit. "Campaign finance law doesn't require PAC money to be used for political purposes, leaving open the possibility that Trump could use PAC funds to pay for private plane repairs."
Found in: Common Cause
Gray Television (VIDEO): Exploring the dueling partisan efforts on voting reform
However, critics like Stephen Spaulding with the watchdog group Common Cause, call it voter suppression. “In the wake of that record turn-out, we are seeing a backlash in some states that are looking to really curtail that access to the ballot box,” said Spaulding. In Washington, there’s a dueling effort by Congressional Democrats intended to expand voter access. The “For the People Act”, or H.R.1, is a sweeping reform bill that could put an end to those state voting restrictions. “It sets a national uniform standard,” said Spaulding. “So, no matter what zip code you live in, you will have access to those basic standards like two weeks of early voting, vote by mail if you want to do it, and automatic voter registration.”
Found in: Common Cause
ABC News: 'A direct response': How Trump's 2020 loss is dictating the future of elections in battleground states
"If the result in Ohio had been that Biden won, it is extremely difficult for me to imagine that we wouldn't have a dozen bills already in the legislature now," said Mia Lewis of Common Cause Ohio, a nonpartisan democracy watchdog. ... In Pennsylvania, where a slew of lawsuits filed by Trump and his allies challenging Biden's electoral victory failed to pass muster in the courts, Republicans are now targeting the methods by which judges in the state are elected. "Our understanding is there is a significant amount of animosity toward the appellate courts by the Republicans, and it came about in legislation," said Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause in Pennsylvania. "It's a direct response to the results of the November election," Ali said. "There's an idea going out that if democracy doesn't give you what you want, it must be broken."
Found in: Common Cause
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia voting limits bill may preserve Sunday and no-excuse absentee
Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, said out-of-precinct voters would be disenfranchised if their provisional ballots are discarded. Under current law, federal and state races for voters who show up in the wrong county precinct are counted, but they can’t vote for local contests they’re not eligible to participate in. “This bill cuts at every part of the voting process in Georgia and is making it very difficult for the most vulnerable populations in Georgia to be able to cast a ballot,” Dennis said.