Empowering Voters - Defending Democracy
Money In Politics
Money In Politics
During the 2018 Election cycle in Colorado, more than $82 million was donated to the Independent Expenditure Committees (IECs), Colorado's version of the SuperPACs. These committees could raise and spend unlimited sums of money for or against political candidates.
TRACER Campaign Finance System Link
the Clean Campaign Act accomplishes the following:
- Prohibiting foreign money in Colorado Elections
- Shining light on secret political spending
- Increase disclosure around corporate political spending
- Requiring "Paid For/By" disclaimers
- Limiting pre-candidacy coordination with IECs.
Tracer Campaign Finance System
The office of the Sectary of State developed TRACER, a public disclosure website for campaign finance in Colorado. The website contains detailed financial records and related information that candidates and committees are required by law to disclose. You can search the system in several ways and review the results online, print them or extract them for further analysis.
Actions by the league of Women Voters of the US
In January 2019 the League of Women Voters announced support of HR1 For the People Act of 2019, the first democracy reform agenda bill introduced in the house of Representatives in the 116th Congress with the following statement:
"This bill stands to improve American elections by making our election system more free, fair and accessible to all eligible Americans.
The League of Women Voters is proud to see HR1 includes restoring the Voting Rights Act, improvement to Automatic voter Registration, public financing of elections through small donor matching funds, overturning Citizens United, ending partisan gerrymandering and more.
The League worked behind the scenes to influence the language of this legislation, including a push to include Same Day Registration. Our organization has a rich history of working with Congress to improve gegistration on behalf of all voters. We are encouraged by the extraordianry and comprehensive reforms in HR1 that are good for all Americans and deserves bipartisan support.
we encourage all elected officals to support legislation that works for the american People."
In February 2019 The League sent a memo to the U.S. Senate urging members to support and co-sponsor a companion bill to HR1, introduced as S.949 for the People Act. This memo advocates prioritizing certain essential elements.
LWV HR1 Memo
1. Break down barriers to prevent Americans from registering to vote. The Act requires states to allow same day registration, establishes an opt-out system of automatic registration, and includes the establishment of an online voter registration for all eligible voters.
2. Restore the Voting Rights Act (VAR) and strengthen our elections by cutting back on obstructive laws that have kept eligible voters from exercising their right at the ballot bos. Since the Supreme Court's Shelby County decision rolled back key provisions of the voting Rights Act in 2013, Americans have participated in elections where voters have faced a variety of obstacles, from reduced polling places to long lines, to strict voter identification requirements, to the removal of registered voters from the rolls.
3. Empower small donors by creating a public financing system to match small contributions to presidential candidates. It will also close disclosure loopholes that allow outside groups to flood elections with millions of dollars of secret money.
