Press Release
House State Gov. Committee Passes Amended AI Disclosure Bill
"Pennsylvanians deserve transparency around AI-generated political communications."
Press
Media Contacts
Katie Scally
Director of communications
kscally@commoncause.org
(408) 205-1257
News Clip
3 reforms to prevent another Bobby Henon-Johnny Doc debacle
In the wake of the last massive City Hall scandal in the early 2000s, a wave of reforms followed, including restrictions on pay-to-play contracting, campaign finance limits, lobbying disclosure, and ethics oversight. But as this trial made clear, glaring vulnerabilities remain. To move forward, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania should start with reforms in three key areas.
News Clip
Republican changes TV attack ad in Pa. Supreme Court race after criticism
The controversy over the ad underscores how Pennsylvania’s partisan judicial elections can be just as contentious as campaigns for any other office.
News Clip
How Allegheny County judicial campaigns raised more than $2M in 2021
Khalif Ali, the director of the good government group Common Cause Pennsylvania, said of the self-funded campaigns that “the most glaring problem is the fact that not everyone can do that.”
“The judge that can fund his or her own campaign with $100,000 or more certainly doesn’t understand or can empathize with the story of someone who has lived in poverty their entire life,” he said. “There could be a struggle to represent the interest of someone in poverty.”
“The judge that can fund his or her own campaign with $100,000 or more certainly doesn’t understand or can empathize with the story of someone who has lived in poverty their entire life,” he said. “There could be a struggle to represent the interest of someone in poverty.”
News Clip
Request to join Pa. election lawsuit gets a day in court, Senate GOP lawmakers respond to challenge
If the subpoena is approved, Griffin, Robinson, and Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, said their respective groups would have to shift resources to educate voters on security and what to do if their information is compromised.
Press Release
Voters Tell State Judge That They Should Be Able to Join AG’s Lawsuit Over Release of Personal Data to PA Senators
Eight voters and three community organizations took their argument to Commonwealth Court today in their effort to join a lawsuit challenging a subpoena issued by a state Senate committee to the Department of State seeking the personally identifying information of the approximately nine million registered voters in Pennsylvania.
News Clip
‘I’m in the hot seat’: Perry admits while answering questions regarding scathing Senate report
“When you’re in a position of leadership, you have a responsibility, to tell the truth,” Executive Director of Common Cause Pa., Khalif Ali said. He says Perry should step down for sowing seeds of mistrust in our democracy. “You can’t just arbitrarily object and call into question the integrity of the process that was questioned in previous elections in which Republicans were successful.”
Press Release
Report by U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee singled out two Pennsylvania Republicans — U.S. Rep. Scott Perry and State Sen. Doug Mastriano
It is clear from what we’ve seen in this report that these men do not respect the will of the voters. No elected official should remain in office, if they do not respect the voters who put them there.
Press Release
Advocates and Voters Ask to Join Election Review Lawsuit Against the PA Senate to Defend Voters’ Privacy Rights
Common Cause Pennsylvania, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, Make the Road Pennsylvania, and the voters say that they have an interest in the case because voters’ constitutional right to privacy will be compromised if the Senate Republicans are allowed to enforce their subpoena for voters’ private personal data.
News Clip
Changes to ‘Prison Gerrymandering’ decision
“We have talked to inmates who have said that, you know, in trying to contact representatives, it's been a non-responsive situation.” Says Khalif Ali, Executive Director of Common Cause Pennsylvania.
Ali says these inmates don't feel adequately represented in prisons outside of their permanent addresses and will disenfranchise 7,000 people.
Ali says these inmates don't feel adequately represented in prisons outside of their permanent addresses and will disenfranchise 7,000 people.
Press Release
Pennsylvania LRC Rolls Back Decision; Will Allocate Only Some Incarcerated People in Their Home Districts
Today, the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted to approve a resolution that effectively rolls back the much-needed prison gerrymandering reforms passed last month. The resolution seeks to count incarcerated people whose sentences are ten years or longer at the location they are currently housed in, rather than in their communities.
Press Release
Senate Committee to Vote Today on Subpoenas of Voters’ Personal Information
"These subpoenas are a frightening violation of voters’ privacy and an egregious abuse of power. State regulations specifically exempt certain information from public release, because of privacy concerns -- but these subpoenas would require the Department of State to provide that information anyway."
News Clip
Pennsylvania GOP lawmakers approve wide-ranging subpoenas for personal information of 2020 voters
Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a good-government advocacy group that works on issues related to voter access, called the subpoenas approved Wednesday a “frightening violation of voters’ privacy and an egregious abuse of power.”
“There’s no explanation about what they intend to do with the information, or why they think they need it,” he said in a statement. “They also have not announced any plans for security measures to protect the information from disclosure. … Pennsylvanians...
“There’s no explanation about what they intend to do with the information, or why they think they need it,” he said in a statement. “They also have not announced any plans for security measures to protect the information from disclosure. … Pennsylvanians...