The Democracy Scorecard

Never has it been more important for voters to stand together and demand candidates tell them what they will do to strengthen our march toward a multi- racial, multi-cultural, and multi-ethnic democracy that respects and works for everyone. As they evaluate their representatives’ actions in office, constituents must discern truth from lies or disinformation. The stakes for our democracy couldn’t be higher.

Common Cause offers this Democracy Scorecard as one piece of information to consider: a factual, nonpartisan accounting of actions by each member of the 117th Congress on a range of democracy-related legislation. Common Cause does not endorse or oppose candidates; we simply provide constituents the facts about how your delegation voted, so you and the people you share this nonpartisan tool can make an informed and comprehensive evaluation of your legislators’ performance.

In many states, office holders are deciding on matters that present a choice between a fundamental belief in democracy or authoritarian rule; between you and me having power in our vote and voice, or others taking that away from us. We weren’t all included in the rights protected by the Constitution in 1789, and even as we fight for a more inclusive democracy and celebrate the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, this past summer saw six justices on the U.S. Supreme Court take away rights to reproductive freedom. How our elected representatives serve in office determines whether we move toward a more perfect union, see more rights stripped from different communities, or lose our democracy altogether.