Media Center

Today, Common Cause Georgia urged the state Senate to oppose House bill 515, a gerrymandering proposal dropped at the end of session on short notice and cleared through committee in minutes without public comment. The letter to Senate leadership emphasizes that significant numbers of Black voters would be packed into legislative districts with “safe” seats – thereby diluting their voting power to elect candidates of their choice - in order to move new white voters into Republican legislative districts that were carried by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton during the presidential election.

Today the New Mexico Legislature rescinded its call for an Article V constitutional convention that was originally passed in the 1979. The state lawmakers recognized the threat of a “runaway convention” which could result in major changes to the U.S. Constitution and its protections in a process bankrolled by special interests.

Today, Common Cause joined with more than 100 organization in urging Senate Leaders challenge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, to clarify his position on the power of big money in politics.

Common Cause is urging Georgia election officials to use paper ballots to safeguard the integrity of next month’s congressional special election in light of the cyberattack on Kennesaw State University Elections Center. In a letter to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, Common Cause emphasized the need to use both paper ballots and paper poll books.

Today, 86 religious and secular groups urged President Donald Trump and members of Congress to preserve the Johnson Amendment to keep partisan politics out of 501(c)(3) organizations. The letter emphasized that for more than 60 years the tax code provision has protected the integrity and autonomy of religious and charitable sectors and safeguarded the boundary separating church and state.

On the eve of the Senate Commerce Committee’s first Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Oversight Hearing of 2017, Common Cause and 170 allied public interest organizations sent a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune and Ranking Member Bill Nelson calling for the protection of the free and open internet. The letter urges these leaders to support and continue to enforce the 2015 Open Internet Order and to oppose legislative and regulatory actions that would threaten the strong net neutrality rules already in place.