One person, one vote: That’s how we’re taught elections in our democracy are supposed to work. Candidates should compete to win our votes by revealing their vision, credentials and capabilities. We, the people then get to decide who should represent us.
Except these days there’s another election: Call it the money election. And in the money election, a small number of super-wealthy individuals and corporations decide which candidates will raise enough money to run the kind of high-priced campaign it takes to win. This money election starts long before you and I even have a chance to cast our votes, and its consequences are felt long after. On issue after issue, politicians often favor the donors who funded their campaigns over the people they’re elected to represent.
Super PACs and Super Wealthy Dominate Elections
Since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010, the super wealthy and the mega donors have gained even more influence in the “money election.”
Spending on political races has skyrocketed, and running for office has never been more expensive. The 2016 election cycle was the most expensive in U.S. history with almost $6.5 billion spent. As a result, unless candidates are independently wealthy, they often need to court contributions from mega donors or corporate interests to be competitive in their races.
This gives a very small number of people massive influence on who runs for office and, often, what issues they decide to talk about. In 2016, fewer than 400 families gave more than half of all of the money raised in the presidential race. That’s not how our democracy is supposed to work. Our democracy is supposed to be based on the principle of one person, one vote.
We want a more participatory government without barriers to voting and legislators who are responsive to the voices of their constituents over big money from special interests.
Current Efforts
We work on a variety of campaigns to strengthen democracy, including our work with the statewide Election Modernization Coalition that has helped bring our election system into the 21st century. Online voter registration, early voting, and automatic voter registration have all been implemented since we passed the Election Modernization Act in 2012 and we’ll continue advocating for democracy reforms.
Join the Movement
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