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Common Cause

Working together, we are building a democracy that works for all of us. Every aspect of our elections and representative self-government must be fair, open, accessible, and set-up so we all have faith in the integrity of election outcomes and the people we elect to serve us. Common Cause is solutions-oriented. Our network of democracy experts, working at the state and local level across the country, are winning pragmatic, common sense solutions and building a national movement that will make sure our generation secures and strengthens democracy for the next. We work to ensure that every vote counts, that every eligible voter has an equal say, that our elections represent the will of the people, and that our government is of, by, and for the people.

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Campaign Finance
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There hasn't been a constitutional convention since the framers drew up the governing documents. One segment of the good-government movement wants another gathering, but only to address the campaign finance system.

Inside the messy fight over strategy among campaign finance reformers

Marty Wulfe opened his inbox one day this fall and found an unsettling email from an old friend.

It was a dire warning from the Maryland chapter of Common Cause: Special interests in his state are pushing a "dangerous" proposal for a second constitutional convention.

But Wulfe himself was one of those special interests, because he's a board member of Get Money Out – Maryland. The organization is lobbying the General Assembly to have the state join five others calling for a convention to consider changing the Constitution to allow Congress and state legislatures to rein in money in politics.

While he and other Get Money Out leaders "had a good laugh at being labeled a special interest group," said Wulfe (who views himself as a big fan of Common Cause), the opposition from one of the most venerable voices for democracy reform is no laughing matter. Instead, the rift highlights one of the most impassioned arguments these days in the world of good-government advocacy.

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How People Powered Redistricting Got California Fair Maps

Organizers: Common Cause Maryland and League of Women Voters of Maryland

To reduce political influence over legislative and congressional lines, a growing number of states are taking up bipartisan reforms such as Independent Redistricting Commissions to ensure that districts promote the will of voters, not politicians. Maryland, as one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation, must join this movement. Join Common Cause Maryland and the League of Women Voters of Maryland in Baltimore City to learn about California's Citizens Redistricting Commission and how we can adopt a similar model here in Maryland that will help Tame the Gerrymander! We'll be joined by California Commissioner, M. Andre Parvenu - a geographer, urban planner, community outreach specialist, and a former Zoning Analyst with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. As we prepare to re-draw our district boundaries in 2021, come learn how to join efforts this upcoming session to create a process that will lead to fair maps.

Location: Function Coworking Community, 4709 Harford Rd., Baltimore, MD

Census 2020, Redistricting 2021

Organizers: Common Cause Maryland and League of Women Voters of Maryland

Every ten years, the United States conducts a "Decennial Census" with the goal of determining the distribution of resources and political representation by counting every person in the country. In Maryland we are working to ensure an accurate 2020 Census Count to understand our communities' needs and secure the essential resources for our everyday lives e.g. transportation needs, education, healthcare. This data will be also critical the process of redrawing our election maps in 2021, and ensuring our state is able to harness the full political power of every person. Join Common Cause Maryland and the League of Women Voters of Maryland to learn how we can help get out the count and create a redistricting process that that empowers people over politics!

Location: Laurel Library, 507 7th St., Dorothy Height Room, Laurel, MD

Redistricting
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Republicans may try gain political advantage by using only citizen counts to draw state legislative maps, Common Cause says.

GOP's aspiration for citizen-only legislative boundaries targeted in new report

Attempts by Republicans to draw legislative maps for the next decade using only the population of citizens would be discriminatory and result in extreme partisan gerrymanders all across the country, Common Cause says.

Common Cause, a venerable nonprofit advocacy group with a liberal bent, issued a report Monday titled "Whitewashing Representation," citing the failed effort by the Trump administration to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census.

Results of the census are used to calculate federal benefit allocations to states and communities and to draw the boundaries of state legislative and congressional districts. When lawmakers draw the boundaries, they often favor the party in power to an extreme. But the Supreme Court ruled this year that federal courts have no role in deciding if such partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional, kicking the issue to the states.

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