Washington, D.C. — Voters across the country adopted democracy reforms through ballot initiatives to empower citizens and constrain the power of wealthy special interests in government, declares a new issue brief published today by the Center for American Progress.
In “Americans Demand Democracy at the Polls,” Liz Kennedy and Danielle Root lay out the democracy and government reforms in 12 different states, some of which passed with stunning majority support. The ballot resolutions adopted span a variety of issues, including overturning Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission; public financing for citizen-owned elections; lobbying reform, ethics, and disclosure; as well as independent redistricting and automatic voter registration.
Examples of the solutions voted on include:
- Automatic voter registration in Alaska
- Election spending, contribution limits, lobbying, ethics, and public financing reforms in California, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, and South Dakota
- Ranked choice voting in Maine and Oregon, as well as redistricting reform in California
- Urging lawmakers to work to overturn Citizens United in California, Ohio, Washington state, and Wisconsin
Recent post-election polling conducted by CAP and GBA Strategies found that solid majorities of voters for both President-elect Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton support solutions to get special interest money out of politics and empower citizens by making voting more accessible for all eligible Americans.
Read the issue brief: “Americans Demand Democracy at the Polls” by Liz Kennedy and Danielle Root
For more information or to speak to an expert on this topic, please contact Tanya Arditi at [email protected] or 202.741.6258.