2128 Search Results Containing ":"
Albuquerque Journal (Op-Ed): NM needs a modern Legislature to cope with modern challenges
For the past four years, Common Cause New Mexico, and several community groups, have been exploring the possibility of upgrading New Mexico’s legislative branch to meet today’s challenges with adequate staff, longer sessions and salaries for our unpaid legislators.
Found in: Common Cause
Maryland Matters (Op-Ed): Election officials are under assault. Here’s how to protect and support them.
We should all be able to go to work each morning without the fear that we won’t make it home to our loved ones. But our election workers don’t have that security right now, and it is our collective responsibility to change that.
Found in: Common Cause
Arizona: Democracy Advocates Urge Need for Clean Recount Fix
Today, Common Cause Arizona joined voting rights activists to call for a clean fix to the ballot recount issue in response to negotiations on a proposal that could further disenfranchise Arizonans’ voting rights.
Found in: Common Cause
Syracuse Post-Standard: Republicans push Onondaga County to sue NY over change to election schedule
"Moving local elections to even years will boost turnout, reduce voter fatigue, and minimize stressors on the local boards of elections,'' said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York.
Found in: Common Cause
Yahoo! News/Providence Journal: Everyone wants something from Rhode Island's part-time lawmakers. Here's the list.
"It targets specific instances when the government has used APRA to stonewall specific requests, like RIDOT's decision to withhold accident data it collects from all of Rhode Island's municipalities," says John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. "With respect to the Washington Bridge emails," he said of emails for which different media outlets were charged anything from zero to $450 for the same 236 pages, "the bill would lower the costs by doubling the amount of free search time given for each request, and providing two hours of free time for redaction." "Given that this was the biggest news story in the state," Marion said of the highway bridge closure, "requiring advance payment from multiple legacy news organizations before release of the documents was a case of RIDOT using APRA as a shield in a way that undermines the purpose of the APRA."
Found in: Common Cause
San Diego Union Tribune: In Chula Vista, when it comes to public records, not much is public
Sean McMorris of California Common Cause, a Los Angeles-area nonprofit that advocates for good government and open records, said there are many reasons cities should post responses to public-records requests. Activists, lawyers, business owners and everyday citizens can review the postings themselves without having to interrupt city employees by submitting a redundant request, he said. "It also creates a record for the city in terms of litigation," McMorris said. "It induces them to respond more thoroughly because the record is there." In cases of lawsuits, "the city could use it to defend itself and vice-versa." But too often, McMorris said, government agencies choose to direct people into new requests.
Found in: Common Cause
Capitol Beat News Service: Paper ballots focus of latest election reform push
Anne Herring, policy analyst for Common Cause Georgia, raised concerns about the latter provision. “The governor and lieutenant governor get to vote on whether their own races will be audited,” Herring told LaHood’s committee. “That’s a little concerning to me in terms of public confidence in elections.”
Found in: Common Cause
The Guardian: How Ohio Republicans ignore voters – and the governor – in power grab to pass laws
According to Catherine Turcer, the executive director of the government watchdog group Common Cause Ohio, which is part of the Citizens Not Politicians coalition, the group has trained about 2,000 volunteers to collect petition signatures. “It’s clear there’s this disconnect between what it is that ordinary Ohioans want, and what it is that the state legislature chooses to do,” said Turcer. “There is real interest in ensuring that we have accountable government.”
Found in: Common Cause
Yahoo! News/WCMH: Ohio GOP at odds over future of House Bill 6
“At the end of the day, this corrupt legislation means that we don’t have money we could be spending on other things,” Executive Director of Common Cause Ohio Catherine Turcer said. HB6, in part, gave two Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC) coal plants a consistent stream of revenue, from Ohioans. “To the tune of $153,000 per day,” Turcer said.
Found in: Common Cause
Albany Tines Union (Op-Ed): These measures would protect election integrity in New York
2023 was a challenging test of New York’s elections. Voters endured persistent legal fights over redistricting and a congressional election scandal that captured national attention. It’s no surprise that trust in government continues to decline nationwide. With changing congressional boundaries and a contentious election season looming, voters face an even busier year. That’s why lawmakers must work quickly to institute guardrails that address existing gaps in our laws and protect voters from the threat of undemocratic actors. Here’s how they can do that.