CLC and Voters Not Politicians Protect Michigan's IRC

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – In a decision yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Janet Neff denied motions filed by the Michigan Republican Party and special interests seeking to block Michigan’s voter-initiated Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is representing Voters Not Politicians in the case. 

“We are proud to be protecting Michigan’s voter-approved Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission alongside Voters Not Politicians,” said Paul Smith, vice president at CLC. “The court was right to reject the attempt by the plaintiffs to use the courts to thwart the will of the people.”

“Michigan voters amended our state Constitution to establish an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and bring fair maps to Michigan,” said Nancy Wang, executive director of Voters Not Politicians. “The application process to serve on the Commission opened on October 24, and thousands of Michiganders have already applied.”

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Redistricting

Felony Voting Rights Restoration in Iowa

At a Glance

Campaign Legal Center’s Restore Your Vote campaign is working in Iowa to help people with felony convictions restore their voting rights, train community leaders on the rights restoration process, and break down the false notion that a felony conviction means you can never vote again.

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Voting and Elections
About This Case/Action

In Iowa, the law regarding which people with past criminal convictions can and cannot vote has been confusing. Whether a person can vote depends on the date they completed their sentence, whether their felony conviction was in Iowa state court, Federal court, or another state’s court, and whether they have paid their fines, fees, and restitution. Some people have had their voting rights restored already and may not know it. Others will have to file an application with the governor to restore their right to vote – a process that many do not know about and the requirements for which have varied over the years. As a result, many Iowans with past convictions who are eligible to vote or restore their vote simply do not know that they can participate.

Based on the most recent estimates Iowa’s law disenfranchises over 52,000 people in the state: 2.17% of the entire statewide voting-age population but nearly 10% of the adult black voting-age population. The good news is that every Iowan who has completed serving their sentence has a path to voting rights restoration.

Campaign Legal Center’s Restore Your Vote campaign is currently working in Iowa to help people with felony convictions restore their voting rights, train community leaders on the rights restoration process, and break down the false notion that a felony conviction means you can never vote again. We have three organizers who are available to provide assistance and trainings around the state. To get in touch, please contact us at [email protected].

If you are an Iowa resident who wants to understand your voting rights, click here to access our tool.

Meet a voter who we helped in Iowa:

Associated Cases & Actions

Restore Your Vote: Felony Rights Restoration

Holding the Interior Department Accountable for Ethics Violations

At a Glance

Violations of ethics obligations by officials across the Interior Department have raised serious questions about whether top agency officials are working to benefit the public, or to benefit the wealthy special interests that used to fund their paychecks. CLC is working to hold Interior officials accountable for ethics violations.

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Active
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Ethics
About This Case/Action

The Interior Department and its bureaus are responsible for protecting the nation’s natural resources. The agency manages public lands and minerals, national parks and wildlife refuges, and environmental conservation efforts. Top political appointees at Interior, however, previously lobbied or worked for the wealthy special interests that they now regulate, which raises significant ethics concerns.

Interior’s responsibilities have nationwide consequences, and they will only become more important as resources become scarcer. America deserves public servants who take Interior’s responsibilities seriously and are committed to protecting our resources for all of us, rather than for the wealthy and well-connected.

Ethics rules are designed to ensure that decisions affecting millions of people are decided on behalf of the public, not on behalf of the special interests that used to sign one official’s paychecks. Ethics rules exist so important decisions, like those determining how increasingly scarce resources are allocated, are made in the public’s interest.

Campaign Legal Center has been working to hold the leaders of the Interior Department accountable for ethical lapses since early 2018.

New Bipartisan Polls: Voters Want Stronger Enforcement of Campaign Finance Laws, Support Increased Transparency in Elections

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Nearly three-in-four voters want the Federal Election Commission to take a more active role in enforcing campaign finance laws and 83% support publicly disclosing political contributions to organizations.

Washington, D.C. – Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) released findings from two bipartisan polls where voters expressed overwhelming support for increased transparency in election-related contributions and for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to take a more active role in enforcing campaign finance laws. The polls, commissioned by CLC, were conducted by a Democratic firm, ALG Research, and a Republic firm, GS Strategy Group.

“Voters have a right to know which wealthy special interests are spending big money to secretly influence our vote and our government,” said Trevor Potter, president of CLC. “Real transparency about who is spending big money on elections will mean more government accountability, less influence for wealthy special interests and less political corruption. The campaign finance laws currently in place to help everyday Americans understand who is trying to influence their vote are not consistently enforced by the FEC, the only government agency whose sole responsibility is overseeing the integrity of our political campaigns. The FEC regularly deadlocks and is currently operating without a quorum, so it cannot take any action against any lawbreakers during one of the most expensive election cycles in history.”

 

Key Findings:

  • A majority of voters rate “corruption in the political system” as the most serious problem facing the country, even more serious than rising healthcare costs.
    • Independents are especially likely to see corruption as the nation’s most pressing problem.
    • 61% of voters believe that major changes need to be made to the country’s campaign finance system.
  • Unlimited secret political donations and the influence of big money in our politics are also viewed as major problems, with even more expressing concern over them than over illegal immigration and stagnant wages.
    • Voters believe the problem of big money in politics is getting worse, with 74% saying that corporations and special interest spending on elections has increased over the past 10 years.
  • 71% of voters want the FEC to take a more active role enforcing campaign finance laws, and there is at least two-thirds support for this across party lines.
    • The desire for a more active FEC is not just broad. It is also intense, with a majority of voters (51%) saying that it is very important that the FEC takes on a more active role in enforcing campaign finance laws.
  • More than four-out-of-five (83%) of voters support public disclosing contributions to organizations involved in elections, with a majority of 56% strongly in support.
    • This intense support for public disclosure extends across partisan and demographic lines.
  • Support for disclosing political contributions to specific organizations is also high, regardless of where the organization falls on the ideological spectrum.
    • Political partisans were just as likely to support disclosing contributions to organizations they were more likely to agree with as they were for organizations they were more likely to disagree with.

 

The failure of the FEC to enforce campaign finance laws has resulted in an explosion in secret spending, and our politics are increasingly rigged in favor of special interests. Voters overwhelmingly want the FEC to take a more active role in enforcing campaign finance laws and support increased transparency in election related contributions to reduce corruption and protect the voices of all voters.

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Campaign Finance
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