A note from Founder & President Trevor Potter on the recent support of CLC from MacKenzie Scott
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is honored by MacKenzie Scott's generous contribution of $2 million announced today for our current and future work. We are humbled by Scott’s support for our work and our mission, and grateful for her visionary leadership and generosity. It is an inspiration and an example during this time when we are all called upon to work to protect and improve our democracy.
We invite you to join us as a partner in our work. Learn how to support CLC.
We are in the midst of great challenges to the functioning of our election system in this presidential election year. A portion of this new funding will assist us in the court cases we are engaged in right now seeking to protect the right to vote around the country.
As a national nonpartisan organization, we fight for every American’s right to participate in the democratic process. We believe our democracy should be transparent, accountable and inclusive.
In Florida, people with past felony convictions have been denied their right to vote due to their inability to pay fines and fees. We represent hundreds of thousands of voters in the state who should not be denied the right to vote because they cannot pay this modern-day poll tax. We are also working in Alabama to restore voting rights to people that owe fines and fees.
We recently won a case in Michigan to protect the state’s voter-approved independent redistricting commission. After the voters overwhelming voted to take the redistricting process out of the hands of elected officials, those same elected officials took them to court to try to maintain their ability to gerrymander districts and ignore the will of voters. We worked to uphold the will of the voters because voters should be able to pick their elected officials, not the other way around.
The pandemic is challenging our electoral systems across the country – highlighting policies that make it harder for eligible voters to cast their vote for the candidates of their choice. Federal and state policies should be designed to make it easier for all citizens to vote, not harder.
That’s why in Texas, Tennessee, Minnesota, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and North Dakota we have filed lawsuits challenging witness signature requirements, absentee ballot excuse requirements and flawed signature match policies – each of which present barriers to eligible voters being able to access the ballot in a safe, secure and convenient way.
No voter should have to risk their health to cast a ballot.
In keeping with Scott’s expressed wishes, we will also be able to use some of this funding in 2021 and 2022 as we face challenges in our work for redistricting reform and preventing gerrymanders, improved rules for money in politics, and enforcement of our nation's campaign finance and ethics laws.
Our knowledge of election law matters is unmatched. Peer organizations, journalists and government officials rely on our analysis and legal skills. It is our expertise and non-partisanship, combined with the cases and issues we strategically choose, that ensures we make the largest impact possible.
Scott's support will help us continue our work to advance democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s right to a responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process.
