PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island’s congressional delegation earned perfect scores from a nonpartisan watchdog organization for their support for voting rights and US Supreme Court reforms, and other pieces of “pro-democracy legislation.”
The high marks, announced Monday, are part of the 2024 “Democracy Scorecard” issued by Common Cause in Washington D.C. — a roundup that tracks federal lawmakers’ support for democracy-related legislation.
Democratic Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse were each graded 10 out of 10, while Democratic Representatives Gabe Amo and Seth Magaziner each scored 13 out of 13, according to the latest scorecard.
Common Cause said members of Congress were graded on 10 “legislative items in the U.S. Senate and 13 in U.S. House, including the ‘Freedom to Vote Act,’ ‘John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,’ ‘the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act,’ and more.”
Rhode Island’s congressional delegation is one of only three that scored 10 or above on this year’s scorecard. And Rhode Island is one of only eight states where both senators had perfect scores.The others included Massachusetts, Vermont, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, and Oregon.
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“The 2024 Democracy Scorecard empowers voters with information to hold their leaders in Washington accountable for a government that works for all,” John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said in a statement.
“All four members of Congress earned a perfect score for their support for pro-democracy legislation,” Marion added. “With this year’s pivotal election, we must drive these key reforms to the top of the agenda, so everyone is afforded an accountable government, no matter what state we call home.”
Overall, the number of congressional lawmakers earning perfect scores jumped 15 percent this year from 2022, up 101 percent from 2020.
Virginia Kase Solomón, president and CEO of Common Cause, said there is “a surge of support in Congress for reforms that strengthen the right to vote, take back the Supreme Court, and break big money’s grip on our politics.”
“As we see the wealthy and well-connected try and influence our politics and our very livelihoods, we must demand our leaders deliver on the people’s pro-democracy agenda,” she said in a statement.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.
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Publish date : 2024-09-16 03:57:00
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