John, as we learn more from yesterday’s election, I wanted to send over this update from our team with what we know so far.
And the message from Common Cause’s voting rights experts is clear: We The People came through big for democracy.
Thousands of Election Protection volunteers helped ensure voters could make themselves heard nationwide, while legal volunteers across the nation fielded calls to the voter protection hotline and connected voters with resources they needed.
We saw the power of the people – voters rejected intimidation. Together, we rejected the idea that we should be scared to cast our ballots on Election Day and showed up in force to the polls. And we overcame countless obstacles — voter suppression, a lack of education around new voting rules, and gerrymandering — to turn out in record numbers.
Meanwhile, poll workers and election officials were resilient in dealing with any problems that arose – and worked with our team to make changes on the fly to make sure that voters were able to access the polls.
None of this would be possible without the dedication and hard work of our state teams on the ground, dedicated poll workers, and Common Cause members like you.
For a more thorough update on how Common Cause has been defending voters, you can check out our Democracy Wire video updates from yesterday and this morning. You are also invited to join us for our Post-Election Debrief this Thursday at 8pm.
We’re also celebrating some major ballot measure wins, including…
- Michigan passed Proposal 2 to legalize early voting and ballot drop boxes and constitutionalize voting rights for all Michiganders…
- Connecticut passed Question 1, legalizing early voting across the state…
- Oregon’s Measure 112 passed, removing a dehumanizing loophole in the state constitution that allowed prisons to serve as a legal continuation of slavery…
- Florida voted NO on Proposition 2, which would have undermined direct democracy and removed an important for Floridians to participate in their governance…
- and California passed the Oakland Fair Elections Act for a participatory, responsive, and transparent local democracy.
These are all major wins for democracy – and I’m inspired by this solid proof that voters won't be intimidated by anti-democracy attacks.
While we continue to wait for final results, it’s important to remember that election officials are doing everything in their power to make sure every vote is counted – and when the count takes a long time, it means election officials are doing their job to get us accurate results.
In the meantime, if you voted by mail, please track your ballot online (if available) to make sure it was received and counted! If your ballot was rejected, or you voted a provisional ballot in-person and were told you had to take follow-up action for your ballot to count, please call 866-OUR-VOTE to learn about how to cure your ballot in your state.
We still have challenges ahead. A narrow split in the U.S. House of Representatives could give more power to extremists – like Marjorie Taylor Greene – who moderates may have to appeal to for the votes they need. And unfortunately, we must be vigilant against candidates who dishonestly and prematurely claim victory – or cry foul if they end up losing the final count.
We have a lot of work to do – continuing the work in states to make sure that the isolated issues we saw this year don’t happen again, and fighting for broader legislation to make voting more accessible nationwide.
But, John, we made a real difference this year in making sure voters could get to the polls and passing pro-democracy ballot measures across the country. That’s something I’m incredibly proud of – and is worth taking a moment to celebrate.
I’m so proud of the work that our team has done – and I’m grateful to you for being a part of it. This work is essential, and I’m so glad to have you with us.
Thanks for all you do,
Pam Wilmot, Vice President of State Operations
and the team at Common Cause
