This year Common Cause is celebrating its 50^th anniversary, both nationally and in Rhode Island. It was founded by John Gardner in 1970 to be a citizens’ lobby. Their slogan is “Holding power accountable.” The Rhode Island Chapter was founded in 1970 with twelve members. John has been with Common Cause RI since 2008, primarily lobbying the General Assembly and working with the media on central issues.

 

One of the biggest issues for Common Cause RI is separation of powers. Unlike other states, RI did not adopt a new constitution after independence from Great Britain but kept the royal charter in place as its governing document. Without the separation of powers, there was great overlap between the authority of the legislative and executive branches. After ten years of lobbying and discussion, separation of powers was finally passed in 2004.

 

Another central issue is election integrity: how to ensure accuracy of voter registration and voter rolls, proper functioning of voting machines, and verifiability of election results. Common Cause wrote legislation providing for audits of election results, which finally passed in 2017. Going forward, RI will have the most advanced type of election audit in the country.

 

The final issue John discussed is redistricting. RI legislative districts are badly gerrymandered, often because of personal/political conflicts. Common Cause has introduced a bill that would put redistricting in the hands of an independent commission rather than elected officials.