Common Cause Blog

Election day in California

Wanted to report on the election protection efforts of Common Cause on Election Day 2008. I was on calls reporting on efforts in CA and the nation. As of 4pm, election protection efforts have fielded more than 72,000 calls nationwide and 5,096 calls in CA.

We heard on the 10am call that there were long lines in Los Angeles and that many polling places didn't have the supplemental registration lists for those registering late. So those folks had to vote by provisional ballot. In addition, many polling places in LA didn't have enough ballots. In some cases they didn't have any.

Taking voter calls in California

It may not be glamorous, but there's something exciting about pictures like this -- what just one of the many Election Protection command centers look like around the country, with trained volunteers and legal professionals taking calls and logging it into our database for any follow up.

This is from LA, where polls remain open and calls continue to pour in. You can view the breakdown of calls we've been getting all day at the OurVoteLive site.

Snubbery

Karl Rove, long time senior advisor to George W. Bush, is speaking later today at a Sacramento forum. He maintains a high profile presence on Fox News Channel as a commentator. Sometimes, he even takes questions.

Yet Rove refuses to answer a congressional subpoena or answer questions under oath about his role in the firing of U.S. Attorneys and the politicization of the Department of Justice, despite a recent court ruling that dismissed the premise of his claim to "absolute immunity."

It's absurd both that Rove continues to thumb his nose at Congress with no legal grounding whatsoever and that Congress has yet to fully assert its authority, as a coequal branch of government, by compelling Rove to testify. We've called for a full vote of contempt by the House, we've called for inherent contempt, but the bottom line is: if Congress wants to learn how the Department of Justice was turned into a political weapon for the White House, if it wants to restore the core values of our democracy, if it wants to join us in Recapturing the Flag, Congress. Must. Do. Something.

We know that some folks want to see it happen -- they want accountability -- but with a week before Congress leaves town for the season, will enough of them step up?

National Popular Vote in CA

The LA Times enthusiastically supports the National Popular Vote plan for California, which Common Cause and a coalition of groups have been pushing in CA and around the country.

Thanks to the electoral college, the United States holds elections in which the candidate who wins the most votes doesn't always win the presidency. Voters in some states matter much more than others, so candidates are encouraged to ignore the concerns of the less important ones and focus on those who really make a difference. That, in turn, tends to lower turnout because many voters believe their input doesn't matter. Is this any way to run a democracy?

Sidestepping the electoral college simply assures that the majority would rule in the presidential race, just as it does in every other election in this country except the one for its highest office.

The National Popular Vote bill in California is likely to get a vote in the Senate soon, and then it goes to the Governor's desk; unfortunately, Schwarzenegger vetoed it two years ago, but the Times argues for him to reconsider.

Schwarzenegger's rationale for vetoing the popular-vote bill two years ago was that it disregarded "the will of a majority of Californians" because it could award the state's electoral votes to a candidate the state's voters didn't approve. That's a very odd argument. The state's choice of a candidate is irrelevant if its pick doesn't win elsewhere.

Redistricting

The Washington Post calls for a federal redistricting reform measure at the federal level.

The remedy would be to put redistricting in independent hands; to require that districts be drawn without regard to partisan concerns; and to prohibit redrawing between censuses. A dozen states have some form of nonpartisan commission or other process to draw district lines; nearly half ban mid-cycle redistricting.

But the problem is serious enough to justify federal action.

The piece points out that both McCain and Obama have made public statements in support of redistricting reform, but there's been virtually no progress yet on the federal front.

Meanwhile, in California, Common Cause and a coalition of groups have put a major redistricting initiative on the ballot in November and are now urging voters to vote Yes on Prop 11, the California Voters FIRST Initiative.

Common Cause Weekly Update - June 11, 2008

Common Cause continues its efforts to hold power accountable.

Abuse of Power: Forging the Path to Recovery

Common Cause hosted a distinguished panel on June 10 to discuss the widespread abuse of power engaged in by the current Administration. The Administration has disregarded the rule of law through over-broad assertions of executive power, abuse of signing statements, and policies that arguably flout the Constitution regarding interrogation, detention, and intelligence gathering. The Congress has repeatedly failed to perform its constitutionally mandated oversight duties in each of these areas.

The panelists were charged with examining these disturbing trends and with considering how best to restore the constitutional constraints that have served our country well since its inception.

Feinstein is key

Rob Arnow posts on Sen. Feinstein and the Fair Elections Now Act at the California Progress Report.

Right here in California, we have a tremendous opportunity, and responsibility, to affect the outcome of this bill. The bill begins its journey in the Rules and Administration Committee in the Senate, of which Dianne Feinstein is the Chair. She hasn't taken a position yet, and the opinions of other elected officials, activists, businesspeople, and regular citizens will be very important to her in how she comes down on the issue.