Democracy

Watchdog Group Releases 

2024 Democracy Scorecard

Members With Perfect Scores Up 15% From 2022

    Washington — 10/9/2024 - Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog, recently released its 2024 “Democracy Scorecard,” recording every member of Congress’ support for voting rights, Supreme Court ethics, and other reforms.  

    “Our 2024 Democracy Scorecard shows a surge of support in Congress for reforms that strengthen the right to vote, take back the Supreme Court, and break big money’s grip on our politics,” said , Common Cause President & CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said. “The number of members of Congress with perfect scores increased more than 100 percent from 2020, with 58 members in our 2020 Scorecard to 117 in this year’s Scorecard. As we see the wealthy and well-connected try to influence our politics and our very livelihoods, we must demand our leaders deliver on the people’s pro-democracy agenda.”   

    Since 2016, Common Cause has tracked support and co-sponsorship of democracy related legislation. This year’s scorecard includes ten legislative items in the U.S. Senate and 13 in U.S. House, including the Freedom to Vote Act, John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act, and more.  

    “The 2024 Democracy Scorecard empowers voters with information to hold their leaders in Washington accountable for a government that works for all,” said Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause. “Six of Washington’s members of Congress earned a perfect score or near perfect score for their support for pro-democracy legislation. With this year’s pivotal election, we must drive these key reforms to the top of the agenda so everyone is afforded an accountable government, no matter what state we call home.” 

    Washington members of Congress with perfect or near perfect scores:  

• Senator Patty Murray: 10/10 

• Representative Suzan DelBene: 13/13 

• Representative Pramila Jayapal: 13/13 

• Representative Adam Smith: 13/13 

• Representative Marilyn Strickland: 13/13 

• Representative Derek Kilmer: 12/13 

    Washington members of Congress with low scores 

• Representative Cathy Rodgers: 0/13 

• Representative Dan Newhouse: 2/13 

    Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization and does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office.

To view the 2024 Democracy Scorecard, click here. 

Civil Rights

ACLU Warns Against Bills Attacking

Kansans’ Right to Vote

    TOPEKA, KAN. – (ACLU) - 2/20/2024 - As state lawmakers consider multiple election-related bills, the ACLU of Kansas is warning against each bill’s negative impact on Kansas voters, but also against the collective anti-democratic theme of the package of bills that all seek to make it harder for Kansans to register, cast a ballot, and have their vote count.

    “Democracy is not a partisan matter – it’s the very foundation that ensures each Kansas voter can have a voice in the laws and policies affecting their lives,” said Micah Kubic, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kansas. “The election process is the single most meaningful way for Kansans to hold their elected officials accountable – so it’s particularly disturbing to see some of those same elected officials leverage their power to undermine that fundamental process of accountability. Democracy is strongest when more people participate, and these bills are designed to make fewer people participate."

 

     The currently seven pending bills in the Kansas legislature seek to limit early in-person voting, place additional restrictions on mail-in ballots, and more.

    “These bills are reminiscent of the attacks on Kansans’ voting rights during the era of then-Secretary of State Kris Kobach,” Kubic said. “We somberly remind our legislators that those attacks have been rejected time after time – rejected by Kansans, rejected by courts, and rejected by common sense. When Mr. Kobach pushed through attacks on our democracy, it resulted in lengthy, costly, and significant losses for Mr. Kobach. Those unconstitutional laws were struck down on behalf of Kansas voters, and any new unconstitutional attacks on our democracy will be, too.”

    ACLU of Kansas Policy Director Rashane Hamby said: “It may be tempting for lawmakers to get lost in the details, but they shouldn’t lose sight of what the big picture is for the Kansans they serve and that Kansas still remains in the bottom of the country for voter turnout. Every last one of these bills is about creating barriers and making it even harder for Kansans to vote, especially elderly voters, those who are in rural communities, or voters with disabilities. We know that Kansans as a whole trust our election process and the officials who administer it, but many lawmakers continue to politicize our fundamental right to vote and lean on misinformation to justify it.”

Law and Justice

Court Blocks Montana Laws 

that Restricts Native 

American Voting Rights

    BILLINGS, Mont. — (ACLU) - 4/13/2022 - A Montana court today blocked two state laws that hinder Native American participation in the state’s electoral process. 

    The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Montana, Native American Rights Fund (NARF), and Harvard Law School’s Election Law Clinic challenged the laws on behalf of two Native American voting rights organizations and four tribal nations. 

    The first measure, HB 176, would have ended Election Day registration, which Indigenous voters have relied upon to cast votes in Montana since 2006. The second, HB 530, would have blocked paid ballot collection. 

    Indigenous voters on rural reservations, where residential mail delivery is often limited or nonexistent, disproportionately rely on the service of ballot collectors to cast their votes. In 2020, a Montana court struck down a similar measure after listening to “cold, hard data” on its detrimental impact on the Native vote.

    The court today granted a preliminary injunction in Western Native Voice v. Jacobsen, which was filed on behalf of Western Native Voice and Montana Native Vote, Native American-led organizations focused on getting out the vote and increasing civic participation in the Native American community; and the Blackfeet Nation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, Fort Belknap Indian Community, and Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Western Native Voice has been consolidated with two similar cases brought by the Montana Democratic Party and Montana Youth Action. 

    The following reactions are from:  

    Alex Rate, Legal Director, ACLU of Montana: “Today is a good day for the voters of Montana, and for the sanctity of the Montana Constitution. This order reaffirms the principle that the right to vote must be preserved for all voters, and that laws targeting Indigenous voters cannot be supported by flimsy and unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.”

    Alora Thomas-Lundborg, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU Voting Rights Project: “The court correctly found that these laws likely violate many provisions of the Montana Constitution, including the right to vote, equal protection, free speech, and due process. This is an important victory. Montana politicians have tried and failed yet again to undermine Native American voters.”

    Jacqueline De León, Staff Attorney, NARF: “HB 176 and HB 530 are designed to take advantage of the lack of residential mail delivery, poor roads, and inequitable access to election services plaguing Native communities. Such laws are unconstitutional. No matter how many times Montana politicians try to pass laws restricting Native Americans, we will fight on behalf of tribes to ensure Native people’s right to vote in Montana is free and fair.” 

    Samantha Kelty, Staff Attorney, NARF: “This injunction ensures that legislation designed to limit who can participate in this democracy will not take effect in 2022, and we will continue to fight to ensure HB 176 and HB 530 never restrict Native people’s right to vote in Montana.” 

    Theresa Lee, Litigation Director & Clinical Instructor, Election Law Clinic Harvard Law School: “We are pleased the court stopped these laws from burdening all Montana voters, and particularly Native voters who face additional barriers to accessing the vote, and ultimately look forward to seeing these laws permanently blocked.”

    The lawsuit was filed in the Montana 13th Judicial District Court of Yellowstone County.

    Ruling: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/pi-order-western-native-voice-v-jacobsen

    Case details: https://www.aclu.org/cases/western-native-voice-v-jacobsen

Voting Rights

Groups Urge Lawmakers to Protect,

Not Restrict, Voting Rights

By Lily Bohlke
Producer / PNS 

------------------------

 

    INDIANAPOLIS - (PNS) - 8/4/2021 - Voting-rights advocates applauded a recent federal appeals-court decision to prevent Indiana from purging some voters from the rolls without notifying them first. However, they said there is more work to do to ensure everyone has access to a ballot.

    Two Indiana state laws, Senate Bill 442 in 2017 and Senate Bill 334 in 2020, aimed to remove a voter's registration if it appears they'd registered in another state.

    Barbara Bolling-Williams, Indiana state conference president for the NAACP, said neither held up in court, because they violated the National Voter Registration Act.

    "The federal act requires that there is contact with the voter, you know, to say, 'It appears that you're registered in Ohio, is that you? Have you moved to Ohio; are you no longer going to be registered to vote here in Indiana?'" Bolling-Williams explained.

    If a voter does not respond, officials need to give notice that the person is set to be removed from the rolls, and then wait two federal election periods.

    Bolling-Williams pointed out other policies, like same-day registration, have increased access in other states, but Indiana's voter registration period ends 30 days before Election Day.

    Legal battles around voter purges and other laws to restrict voting access, especially for historically marginalized communities, are not unique to Indiana.

    As of July 14, 18 states had passed 30 laws in 2021 alone, making it harder to vote, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Proponents argued they are meant to prevent fraud, but Bolling-Williams countered lawmakers are not taking voters' needs into account.

    "In this climate of not wanting people to vote, basically, we understand that if everybody has an opportunity to vote, then the will of the people will reign, and not the dictatorship of a few," Bolling-Williams contended.

    Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., and Sen Todd Young, R-Ind., were among those who blocked federal legislation, the "For the People Act," which would have prevented many of the new, more restrictive state laws from going into effect.

 

References:

Court ruling 7th Circuit Court of Appeals 07/19/2021
Senate Bill 442 (2017) 04/13/2017
National Voter Registration Act U.S. Dept. of Justice 05/20/1993
Voter registration rules Ind. Sec'y of State 2021
Voting laws information Brennan Center for Justice 07/22/2021 

For the People Act 2021
Senate Bill 334 (2020) Statehouse website 03/21/2020

Story credit: Public News Service. Originally published on 7/23/2021

 

Voting Matters

Voting is Your Right and

 Responsibility,

 Not a Spectator Sport

 

By James Grandone
Commentary 

____________

Oct. 14, 2020 - Did you vote for president in 2016? Some 63 million voted Republican, while 66 million voted Democratic. Unfortunately, that is out of 200 million registered to vote, which means more people sat at home than voted for either political party.

Jim Grandone

Women, people who didn’t own land, African Americans, Immigrants and even Native Americans had to fight for years to get the right to vote. Because of the desire for universal suffrage, over past the centuries, we have evolved from a representative republic to a democratic republic or some hybrid thereof. It wasn’t easy to expand the right to vote. It took protests, riots and bloodshed. And still, there are those in government who want to make it difficult for us to cast a ballot.

Bear with me for a little history that doesn’t get taught much in schools today.
Although Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves and gave them rights, those rights were eroded after Reconstruction by Jim Crow laws and poll taxes.

Women won the right to vote by the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution 100 years ago, which passed after women marched and were arrested and beaten in the streets. The Fifteenth Amendment, which was passed in 1870, granted all U.S. citizens the right to vote regardless of race, however, it wasn't until the Snyder Act in 1924 that Native Americans could enjoy the rights granted by this amendment.

Many died fighting for the right of African Americans to vote, which was secured in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and, even then, in the South and other parts of the USA, African Americans were prevented from voting by various tactics used by powerful people to stay in power. Eighteen-year-old Americans did not get the right to vote until the Twenty-sixth Amendment, which was ratified in 1971. Even after that, they did not prove themselves a political force until 2008.

After all that effort over many years and generations we finally have what amounts to universal suffrage – almost every citizen can register to vote in America. It baffles me that tens of millions did not vote in the last presidential election.

We can conduct all the voter registration drives we want. We can identify voters and survey them for national polls, we can crow about the large numbers of people registered to vote, but if those registered don’t show up at the polling place or cast their vote by mail, then all the polls are wrong and we get a minority government like we have had twice this century.

More than eight in ten Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction. Just because Illinois is not a battleground stated does not mean your vote doesn’t count. The people who write the laws are all on the ballot this November including members of Congress and some local candidates and referenda.

Now is the time to make your voice heard. I strongly urge you to consider all that has taken place up to this moment in time and make a decision right now that you are going to vote on or before Nov. 3, 2020. Mail-in ballots have been sent out and in person voting is taking place now. Don’t hesitate.

You don’t have to worry about being beaten or killed while casting your vote. Your biggest challenge may be finding a parking spot.

------------------

Jim Grandone is a long-time resident of Edwardsville, Ill. He was the architect of the 'East County...If You Only Knew' marketing campaign promoting the Metro East to businesses in St. Louis in the 1990s. Grandone holds a BA in political science from the University of Illinois at Springfield and was a Coro Fellow and serves on a variety of boards. He lives in Leclaire with his wife, Mary.

Voting Rights

 ACLU Releases Extensive 

'Let People Vote' Online Tool

Campaign Aims to Empower Voters, Vote-By-Mail Option

   WASHINGTON - (ACLU) - 9/14/2020 - With less than 50 days until Election Day, the American Civil Liberties Union has launched “Let People Vote,” a campaign encouraging voters to make a plan to vote and empowering them to vote by mail. The new educational tool features states’ access to vote by mail and other helpful information on how to exercise the right to vote this election. The organization will be asking its more than 1.8 million members to pledge to vote, which has proven to increase voter turnout.

   The tool will be amplified through a six-figure digital ad spend, an expansive email and text program, and beyond the ACLU’s network through its artists and celebrity partners with weekly content through Election Day. The organization’s corporate partners — including Levi’s, Ben & Jerry’s, Everlane, Snap, NorthFace, Outdoor Voices, Seventh Generation, Lush, COS, Madewell, and Twitter, among others — will educate their customers, followers, employees, and the general public by sharing the tool in a concerted push. The ACLU will also release voting-themed face masks and “At The Polls,” a weekly mini-series podcast on the top questions regarding the 2020 election, including what election night will look like and the state of the USPS.

   In Michigan, the ACLU will launch a Get Out the Vote campaign to build on the success of last cycle’s Proposition 3 Promote the Vote ballot initiative, which brought automatic and same day voter registration to the state, by ensuring newly registered voters — particularly Black Michiganders, young people, and populations most impacted by the ballot measure — are educated on their rights and options. The organization will run a parallel GOTV campaign in Wisconsin.

   In addition to public education efforts, the ACLU has filed over 20 lawsuits and counting – in Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio (twice), Pennsylvania (twice), Puerto Rico (twice), Rhode Island (twice) South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and – to ensure safe access to the ballot in November. The ACLU has also run advocacy campaigns in Delaware, Iowa, Nevada, Florida, and Georgia to encourage elected officials to expand access to vote by mail, drop boxes, and early vote.

   “In an unprecedented election year, rife with misinformation flowing from the highest levels, voters must be educated on how, where, and when they can vote, and how to advocate for their constitutional right to cast a ballot when obstacles are thrown in their way. As politicians play politics with peoples’ lives instead of enacting common sense measures — including expanded early voting periods and universal access to vote by mail — the ACLU has been at the front lines to protect and expand the right to vote for all eligible voters. We’re calling on voters to make a plan, request their ballot where they can, and to encourage their friends to do the same, said Rebecca Lowell Edwards, chief communications officer for the ACLU.

   See: ACLU Campaign