MONEY OUT
Money has always been a part of elections, but in recent years campaign spending has exploded.
The candidate with the most money wins 94% of the time so politicians care a lot about getting their hands on the moolah. When politicians have to pay more attention to donors to get elected and stay in office, our government ceases to represent us. And that’s not how our democratic republic is supposed to work.
We need to overturn Citizens United and institute common-sense reforms such as robust clean elections programs, a ban on corporations and unions from spending money to influence elections, and strict limits on campaign contributions.
VOTERS IN
Every vote should count. But in many states, many citizens never even get to vote. Discriminatory barriers disproportionately block minorities, students, the disabled, and the poor from exercising their right to vote.
Barriers to voting include complex voter registration rules, long lines at the polling booth, the limiting of early and absentee voting, the restricting of voting rights for people with felony convictions, and other practices.
We need to restore the Voting Rights Act, which the U.S. Supreme Court has begun to dismantle such as in Shelby County v. Holder (2013)—making it even more crucial for us to ensure strong protections at the local, state, and federal level of our government.
People Power Initiatives signature project is Stamp Stampede, a grassroots public education campaign to inform citizens about the influence of special interest money in campaigns and elections and the impact of voter suppression in local, state, and federal elections. Learn more at www.StampStampede.org
