839 Search Results Containing "voting"
NY Voting and Civil Rights Groups Call for Transparent Redistricting Process
"The so-called independent redistricting commission must open up their meetings and allow for public input. This work can not be done in the dark. The only way to prevent future court battles - and politically appointed commissioners - from deciding our representatives is for the Legislature to adopt a permanent fix to redistricting that centers people over politicians. That means lawmakers must prioritize passing a constitutional amendment that creates a truly independent, citizen-led redistricting commission that puts the power in the hands of New Yorkers – not elected officials," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause New York.
Found in: Common Cause New York
Voting rights groups call constitutional convention efforts a threat to democracy
"There's great risk and great potential harm to everything already enshrined in our Constitution if we do open up this Pandora's box."
Found in: Common Cause Massachusetts
Public News Service: Voting rights groups call constitutional convention efforts a threat to democracy
Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, said there are no rules in the Constitution for how to govern a convention and no guarantee, even the First Amendment, would be safe. "There's great risk and great potential harm to everything already enshrined in our Constitution if we do open up this Pandora's box," Foster cautioned. Foster pointed out a convention could potentially allow unelected delegates and special-interest groups to enshrine their agenda into a founding document.
Found in: Common Cause
Gateway City Voters Overwhelming Support Voting ACCESS Act
Voters discuss new election laws, accessibility at town halls
Found in: Common Cause Massachusetts
NPR (Audio): The RNC wants Republicans to embrace early voting. Trump's rhetoric makes it tough
Jay Heck, the executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, said he thinks that Republicans lost recent state Supreme Court elections and a recent gubernatorial election partly because of their voters' aversion to early voting. "There is, I think, a realization on the part of some of them that they had better begin to do the things that progressives and Democrats are doing to turn out the vote if they want to carry the state for Trump or if they want to win a gubernatorial election in the near future," he said. Heck also predicts there will be a lot of "tension" within the party over early and mail voting as November gets closer. "I think there's going to be, if not an outright rupture, at least some pretty serious words back and forth between Republicans who are trying to encourage early voting and then those who just claim that early votes and absentee votes are all fraudulent," he said. "So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out."
Found in: Common Cause
Public News Service: Bill aims to restore voting rights for those incarcerated in Alabama, US
Keisha Morris Desir, justice and mass incarceration project manager for Common Cause, said the Inclusive Democracy Act is the first of its kind to include voting rights for people even if they are still behind bars. "This is the first really expansive bill that would allow everyone -- including those who are currently incarcerated, on parole and probation -- to vote in a federal election," Desir explained.
Found in: Common Cause
House Approves Paid Time Off For Election Day Voting
"I'm glad to see the Legislature acting on this — it's really important we continue to modernize our elections and address barriers."
Found in: Common Cause Massachusetts
North Carolina lawmakers targeted Black voting districts with 'surgical precision,' new lawsuit against maps claims
Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, said, "North Carolina legislators have imposed discriminatory voting maps that outrageously attack the rights of Black North Carolinians. Sadly, racist gerrymandering once again plagues our state and harms voters. We must defeat it. Our voting districts don’t belong to politicians; our districts belong to the people. We must have voting maps that are free from racist gerrymandering and that respect the freedom of all voters."
Found in: Common Cause North Carolina
Voting rights groups file sweeping lawsuit against NC redistricting plans
The suit by the state NAACP, Common Cause and eight Black voters says that the election districts violate the federal Voting Rights Act and the U.S. constitutional amendments that prohibit racial discrimination.