News Clips

“These things take time. You don’t just earn the public trust overnight,” said Pedro Hernandez, the Legal and Policy Director for California Common Cause, a voting rights and government transparency group. “We have to show the county’s voters that we are taking concerns seriously.” In Hernandez’s view, the buck must ultimately stop at the Board of Supervisors. An oversight commission may ultimately help bring light to concerns and potential election issues, but it does not have the authority to resolve those issues.

"It was very shocking to see this attempt to have artificial entities have voting rights," said Claire Snyder-Hall, executive director of Common Cause Delaware, a watchdog group. "We're seeing voter suppression all over the county, and this is the flipside," she added. "It's not saying the residents of Seaford can't vote, but it's diluting their votes by allowing nonresidents to vote."

Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, said while Healey’s use of the nonprofit is legal, it’s an example of why the state needs stronger disclosure laws to dispel any appearance of undue influence on an elected official. “While we know there are precedents for this practice, for us at Common Cause it’s always concerning when private donations to public officials are not fully disclosed,” Foster said.

"Allowing New Yorkers to vote by mail increases voter turnout in harder to reach populations, including young people and voters of color," said Susan Lerner of Common Cause-NY. "We know vote by mail works: New York did it successfully in 2020 when faced with the COVID-19 pandemic ... not only is this absolutely legal under our Constitution, but the right thing to do."

“We’ve seen…candidates really pushing the envelope here, and there has been a rise in single-candidate super PACs,” said Stephen Spaulding, Vice President of Common Cause, a group dedicated to lessening the impact of special interests in government and politics. “You have super PACs essentially operating as arms of campaigns — only they can take unlimited amounts of money from nearly any source,” Spaulding said. “It’s time for Congress to step in and pass legislation to make clear that independent spending is supposed to be truly independent,” Common Cause’s Spaulding said.

“Greg Abbott either didn’t read this bill closely enough to understand what it really does or is deliberately working to make it harder for Texans with disabilities to vote,” Katya Ehresman, the voting rights manager for Common Cause Texas, said in a statement.