One of the more consistent stories year to year that our vote tallies uncover is the issue of groupthink, whereas legislators who do not wish to upset the applecart vote alongside their peers without much consideration for the legislation at hand. Unfortunately, groupthink resulted in a large number of legislators scoring identically, and ultimately this tactic hurt their scores considerably.

The most prominent bill in this year's session was the redistricting bill, presented in the Senate as S-2162A and in the House as H-7323A. Both Common Cause RI and the RI ACLU refused to support the bill, citing various issues including tabulation of the prison population's home district and the manner in which incumbents were seemingly allowed to choose their district lines in private meetings. Despite linings of corruption, Common Cause/ACLU opposition, and substantial coverage of the unfair process in play, just 16 of the General Assembly's 113 members voted against the redistricting bill. Because this bill carried heavy weighting in our scoring, those voting in favor of the bill scored poorly overall in this segment.

Another concerning trend this year was leadership's eagerness to send the majority of open government bills opposed by Common Cause and/or the ACLU to the floor, while blocking nearly all legislation that was supported by the two organizations. Nearly 60% of open government bills opposed by Common Cause RI were passed into law, while just 15% of open government bills supported by Common Cause RI and the RI ACLU were passed into law. With that in mind, poor scores from a majority of House members and better but still disappointing scores in the Senate for this category should not surprise voters. Because open government bills often serve to restrict members of the General Assembly, incumbents tend to view such legislation negatively. Some of these and other open government bills that were not permitted to pass this year included:

• A bill to include General Assembly elections in the auditing procedure used to ensure the poll results are accurate.
• A bill to allow eligible citizens to register to vote at any time, rather than only 30 days prior to an election.
• A bill to allow for ranked choice voting, which reduces the influences of political parties and gives more candidates a chance to win.
• A bill that would make reports of investigations conducted on police officers to be made public.
• A bill that would provide translation services for open meetings conducted by public agencies.

Overall scores lagged significantly behind prior years in the House of Representatives. Members of the House achieved an average score of just 19.9 this year vs. 43.6 in 2021. In the Senate, performance improved a bit, with this year's average score coming in at 42.2 vs. 33.2 in 2021. But the results make it clear that substantial work must be done to elect leaders and legislators who will place transparency and an open government higher on their list of priorities. It is crucial to a healthy democracy.