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Articles by Simone Leeper
Campaign Legal Center Sues Florida Over Gerrymandered Congressional Map
States across the country are redrawing their congressional districts in an unprecedented mid-decade race to the bottom to reshape voting maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Florida has joined this race, attempting to implement a map that violates the state constitution and silences voters.
Voters in Virginia Secure Settlement to End Illegal Voter Purge Program
After a year and a half of litigation, Virginia voters can finally register to vote without fear that they will be illegally purged from voter rolls on the eve of an election. Following a lawsuit filed by Campaign Legal Center and a pro-voter coalition to end an illegal voter purge before the 2024 president election, voters have agreed to a settlement to put an end to this illegal and discriminatory practice. All voters in Virginia must have the opportunity to make their voices heard.
Victory! Voters in Virginia Beach Secure Fair Election System After Years-Long Battle
After years of litigation, decades of community advocacy and a sustained effort by the community’s Black, Latino and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, Virginia Beach, Virginia, is officially set to conduct all future City Council elections using a “10-1” election system that ensures all voters in the city will have an equal voice in local elections.
Utahns Score Huge Victory Voiding Amendment D
Utah voters scored a big victory when a state court ruled in their favor today. Holding that the people have the right to truthful ballot language and proper notice for proposed constitutional amendments, the court officially voided Constitutional Amendment D — an amendment that would have allowed the Legislature to amend or repeal citizen-passed ballot initiatives with virtually no limitation.
Utah’s November Ballot will Deceive Voters about the Meaning of Amendment D
Campaign Legal Center is representing a bipartisan group of voters who are asking a district court to remove Constitutional Amendment D from Utahns’ ballots this November. The ballot summary that voters would see when casting their votes misleads the voters about the effect of the Amendment, and thus violates the Utah Constitution. Amendment D is designed to eliminate voters’ fundamental constitutional right to reform their government through ballot initiatives.
CLC, Utahns Score Huge Victory in the Fight for Fair Maps
Utah voters got a big win in the fight for fair voting maps today after the state Supreme Court ruled that the state Legislature most likely broke the law when they gutted Prop 4, a citizen-led initiative that set up the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission and banned partisan gerrymandering.
Ohio Voters Might Be Able to End Gerrymandering This November
Voters should be the ones to choose their leaders, not the other way around. While that idea may seem obvious, there are many states where the people in charge of drawing voting maps are the politicians who stand to benefit most from manipulating those maps. When politicians manipulate how voting maps are drawn to benefit themselves or their party, that’s called gerrymandering. This is a preventable problem that Ohioans might get to vote to eliminate this November.
Ohio Voters Could End Gerrymandering This November
Voters should be the ones to choose their leaders, not the other way around. While that idea may seem obvious, there are many states — including Ohio — where the people in charge of drawing voting maps are the politicians who stand to benefit most from manipulating those maps. When politicians manipulate how voting maps are drawn to benefit themselves or their party, that’s called gerrymandering.
New Report Outlines How to Make a Redistricting Commission Effective
Voters should choose their politicians, not the other way around. Redistricting commissions — when done right — are a crucial, voter-centric reform designed to make the redistricting process transparent and impartial. In 2021, 22 states utilized redistricting commissions to draw state legislative or congressional maps, directly impacting political representation for over 80 million voters — nearly 50% of all registered American voters. But not all redistricting commissions are made equal.
Cracks in the System on Apple Podcasts
18 min Joined by Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center and a Republican Former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, host Simone Leeper breaks down the basics of America’s campaign finance system. At the root of their discussion is an examination of how illegal coordinated campaign spending occurs, and why it has not been properly addressed.
CLC Files Redistricting Challenge on Behalf of Wisconsin Groups Seeking Fair Maps
Campaign Legal Center (CLC), Law Forward, Inc. and Stafford Rosenbaum LLP filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin on Aug. 23, 2021 on behalf of nonpartisan groups and individual voters challenging Wisconsin’s state legislative map, which the 2020 census has revealed to have unequally populated districts.
What Does the Census Data Drop Mean?
How does the U.S. Census data release impact the map drawing process that occurs once every 10 years? How do I know if my state is drawing a gerrymandered map? These are all questions being asked this week. On Aug. 12, 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau released the data from the 2020 census which will be used to redraw voting districts across the country. The maps that are drawn this year will shape our lives and our communities for the next decade.
Campaign Legal Center Presents PlanScore.org, the Premiere Tool to Measure Gerrymandering
In preparation for the August 16 release of redistricting data by the U.S. Census Bureau to the states, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is relaunching PlanScore.org, an empowering online tool to measure voting maps and evaluate them for partisan impact. As the 2021 map drawing cycle heats up, PlanScore will collect and analyze new district plans as they are proposed in states nationwide.
Fight for Fair Maps Continues Two Years After Rucho v. Common Cause
The U.S. Supreme Court declared it was unable and unwilling to use its powers to stop partisan gerrymandering in the majority opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts on June 27, 2019 in the case Rucho v. Common Cause. Despite this setback, two years later, the fight to create fair maps during the 2021 redistricting cycle that allow voters, not politicians, to decide elections is still alive and well.
Senate Must Hear From Americans About Urgent Need To Pass Election Legislation
On June 22, 2021, the leadership of the U.S. Senate brought the For the People Act to the floor for a vote on whether to begin debate – an event that marked just the beginning of the battle to pass the bill in the Senate. Although there were 50 votes in favor yesterday, with the vice president on hand to break the tie and provide the 51st vote, current Senate rules require a supermajority of 60 votes to end the Republican filibuster and begin debate.
Victory! Appeals Court Upholds Michigan’s Independent Redistricting Commission
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has upheld the state of Michigan’s voter-approved independent redistricting commission (IRC) as constitutional in Daunt v. Benson, allowing it to proceed with public input as the data is collected from the 2020 Census. The decision is a shot in the arm for the movement to adopt IRCs as a viable solution to gerrymandering across the country. It could still be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Democrats and Republicans Agree on Importance of Ending Gerrymandering
With the For the People Act (H.R. 1/S. 1) under consideration in the Senate, some politicians in Washington are nervous about losing their power over the redistricting process because the bill ends gerrymandering at the congressional level. The bill, which enjoys majority support among voters, would take away the power of politicians to pick their voters by redrawing district lines. This bill must pass because elections should be determined by voters, not politicians who draw maps.
How Ranked Choice Voting Can Increase Inclusivity and Voter Participation
With the New York City mayoral primary election less than a month away, people are starting to pay increased attention to the election not only because of the candidates who are running or because of the vast amounts of money that are being spent but also because of the way that New Yorkers will get to select their preferred candidates. For the first time, New York City voters will choose their candidates using an election system called ranked choice voting (RCV).
CLC Reveals Internal Trump Administration Strategies To Exclude Immigrants from Census
After litigation brought by Campaign Legal Center (CLC), the Census Bureau produced a briefing memo for former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross about the bureau’s plan for estimating the undocumented immigrant population. This was the first public disclosure showing the extent to which the Trump administration made efforts to carve out the undocumented population from the Census. NBC News exclusively covered CLC’s release of this document.
Getting Ready for Redistricting: What Makes 2020 Census Data Different?
Now that the Census Bureau has released the apportionment counts for state seats in the House of Representatives, the next phase in the 2020 census cycle has taken center stage: state redistricting. Although in a typical census cycle, the Census Bureau would have already released state redistricting data by the end of March, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the bureau to push back its timeline.
Americans Spoke Out for Fair Redistricting on #OurFairMaps Day
Legislative district maps will be redrawn this year, and it’s important that Americans have fair representation, regardless of where they live or what they look like. To help raise awareness about fair redistricting in 2021, CLC organized #OurFairMaps Day on April 30 to get people talking on social media on about why redistricting and Fair Maps matter to them.
Biden Should Make Fair Representation a Cornerstone of First Major Speech
President Biden will deliver a speech before the joint session of Congress on April 28 – an opportunity for him to outline what policies he will prioritize in the coming year and set the tone for his presidency. In this first major speech, Biden should state his commitment to making the promise of democracy real for us all and the importance of passing the For the People Act(H.R. 1/S. 1).
Social Media Day of Action: #OurFairMaps, April 30
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is organizing a social media testimonial campaign on April 30—#OurFairMaps Day—to raise awareness about fair redistricting in 2021. Maps will be redrawn this year, and CLC wants to encourage people to get talking on social media on about why redistricting and Fair Maps matter to them.
CLC Wins Voting Rights Act Case in Virginia Beach
On March 31, 2021, a federal court declared Virginia Beach, Virginia’s method of conducting elections illegal because it dilutes the voting power of the minority community. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) served as counsel for plaintiffs Latasha Holloway and Georgia Allen and proved at trial that the election system for city council did not comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The system denied communities of color the opportunity to elect representatives of their choice.
CLC’s Trevor Potter Testifies at Hearing on the For the People Act
Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Republican former chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration in support of the For the People Act (S.1) on March 24, 2021. The hearing on S.1, a sweeping legislative package that will crack down on political corruption in both parties and strengthen our democracy, took place over two panels.
On Bipartisan Democracy Reform, the For the People Act Can Deliver
The For the People Act (H.R. 1/S. 1) is a comprehensive piece of legislation that would address critical challenges facing our democracy. As Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has detailed, this bill will advance voting rights for all, strengthen ethics laws, increase transparency, curtail partisan gerrymandering, and decrease the influence of wealthy special interests in our political system. Now, CLC has created a new memo that examines the bipartisan lineage and bipartisan effect of key H.R. 1/S.
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