News Clips

In a statement, Aly Belknap, executive director of the nonprofit Colorado Common Cause, which filed several amicus, or friend-of-the-court, briefs in support of the Colorado plaintiffs, called the ruling “a dark day for our democracy.” “Donald Trump lied, cheated, and unleashed violence when the election did not go his way, and his ongoing incitement has led to an unprecedented rise in attacks and death threats against election workers, judges, and other public servants,” Belknap said. “By refusing to hold Trump accountable and allowing him to skirt around the pillars of our Constitution, SCOTUS has greenlit this behavior for future public officials.”

Voters can do their part by updating their voter registration in a timely fashion, said Jenny Guzman, program director of Common Cause Arizona.

Outsiders coming to our state often notice how New Mexico is years behind similar states in terms of infrastructure, education, poverty, community well-being and just about any other statistic you use to measure the success of a society. The reputation tracks with a flawed legislative structure that is impeding progress on many levels. We are the only state where legislators do not receive a salary. Most lack professional staff to conduct policy research and constituent services, and they meet for the third-shortest amount of time in the country.

What aspect of “good government” does Hawaii do well, and where does it need the most improvement? Hawaii is truly a dynamic state. Areas of good governance that Hawaii does well include human rights as well as establishing safe avenues for citizen participation in democracy. However, this is simply not enough as we continue to struggle with participation in democracy, transparency and strategic vision. Perhaps the aspect of good governance that is most missing from our state would be strong and pragmatic anti-corruption safeguards and laws.

Sean McMorris, the transparency, ethics and accountability program manager for good government group California Common Cause, said it becomes an accountability issue because some self-funded candidates don’t engage with voters as much because they don’t need to solicit as many donations. “Money should not dictate who should run for office or who gets elected,” he said. At the congressional level, money plays a large role in the election, and while McMorris said it’s not the “determining factor,” candidates need a minimum of a couple hundred thousand dollars to get their message out. California Common Cause’s McMorris said it’s important that voters look at the bottom of mailers and ads to see if they’re being paid for by the candidate or special interest groups. And while candidates and PACs aren’t allowed to coordinate, McMorris said that “none of us are immune to the influence of money.” “Voters should realize this is a special interest that is more likely than not who is supporting the candidate because they think the candidate will assist them in some way or they think they will have more access to this candidate,” he said. “At the end of the day, most of this comes down to those special interests wanting goodies”

"There must be consequences for overturning the will of the voters, both to prevent these schemes from being attempted in the future and to ensure accountability to those responsible for future attempts," added Aly Belknap of Colorado Common Cause.