There are a lot of ways to show your patriotism this Fourth of July. You can deck out in your red-white-and-blue best. You can wave sparklers or shoot off fireworks (not recommended). You can watch Joey Chestnut pound down Nathan’s Famous hot dogs on ESPN (definitely not recommended). Or you can do something to actually…
April 25, 2019—Voters’ Right to Know today announces its endorsement of two new bills under consideration by the California Legislature that would be major steps forward in bringing greater transparency to the sources of political spending in the state. AB 1217, the Issue Ad DISCLOSE Act, sponsored by Kevin Mullin, would require that lobbying issue ads—that is, ads…
April 10, 2019—Voters’ Right to Know is proud to announce its endorsement of Arizona’s proposed Outlaw Dirty Money amendment. The amendment would give the people of Arizona a right to know the original sources of money being spent to influence their elections, requiring groups making campaign media expenditures to disclose their sources of major funding. Full…
A group of Arizona voters is once again preparing to trudge up the slopes of Mount Everest. On roller skates. With hurricane force winds blowing smack into their faces. Translation: they’re going to take another run at “dark money” – specifically on lifting the shroud on the people and groups that are secretly spending big money to buy…
Armed with volunteers and 15 months until a deadline, former Attorney General Terry Goddard launched a new bid Tuesday to end “dark money” anonymous donations to Arizona political campaigns. The initiative would create a “right to know” provision in the Arizona Constitution requiring public disclosure of the name and address of any individual who has…
On Tuesday, voters in North Dakota won a landmark victory against dark-money political spending in their state. With 54% support, voters passed Measure 1, a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment establishing a new right to know the true, original sources of money being spent to influence North Dakota elections and government. Measure 1 was placed on the 2018 ballot in…
Eight months after Tempe voters chose to shine a light on dark money in political spending, Phoenix voters approved a similar measure, setting up a potential legal showdown with the state. About 87 percent of Phoenix voters said yes to Proposition 419, which is a copycat of a similar move made by Tempe voters. The…
The decision is final: A citizens initiative that aimed to eliminate “dirty money,” or anonymous political spending, in Arizona elections won’t appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. In a ruling Wednesday afternoon, the Arizona Supreme Court ordered that the “Outlaw Dirty Money Act” not appear on the ballot because supporters didn’t submit enough valid voter signatures to qualify. The order…
Last Thursday, just one day after America celebrated its anniversary of independence, Arizona voters took a monumental stand to reclaim their democracy from special interests in a grassroots campaign that should inspire us all. Persevering through the intense heat of Arizona’s summer sun, thousands of volunteers collected and turned in 285,768 signatures in an effort…
Constitutional Amendment Would Reveal True Sources of Funding to Dark Money Groups in State Elections June 27, 2018—The Outlaw Dirty Money Initiative, which would give Arizonans a constitutional right to know the sources of money being spent in their elections, is entering its final week of signature gathering. The campaign needs to meet a threshold…
June 8, 2018 – On Tuesday, voters in San Francisco passed Proposition E, a ballot measure instituting a first-in-the-nation ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. Proposition E passed with 68% support, despite campaign spending by opposition groups that dwarfed spending by supporters. The Money Behind Proposition E The “No on Proposition E” campaign,…
A link to the broadcast can be found here.
Voters’ Right to Know Releases Six General Principles of Effective Transparency Policy to Ensure Californians Can Know the True Sources of Money Behind Political Messages San Francisco, CA – May 24, 2018—The Voters’ Right to Know Project (VRTK), a nonpartisan effort to advance state-level policy surrounding the transparency of political spending, released its Transparency Standard…
The health and integrity of our democracy depend critically on the ability of voters to make informed decisions at the ballot box and hold their elected officials accountable. This means that as voters consider the many messages seeking to influence the way they vote and engage with government, they must be able to know the…
Measure Would Lift the Veil of Secrecy Protecting Dark Money Group Spending in Arizona State and Local Elections May 16, 2018—Today, the Voters’ Right to Know Project, a nonpartisan effort to advance effective state-level policy surrounding the transparency of political spending, endorsed Arizona’s Outlaw Dirty Money constitutional amendment. The proposed amendment would give the people of Arizona…
By Joe Garofoli Politicians love having a villain to target — it’s an easy way to score points. But only when it serves their purposes. Today’s villain: Facebook. The advantage to politicians in flogging Facebook: By ranting about how the social media platform violated the privacy of potentially 50 million users through the Cambridge Analytica…
Measure Would Bring to the November Ballot the ‘Right’ for Marylanders to Know the Sources of Money behind State Elections Annapolis, MD – February 27, 2018 —On March 1, 2018, the Maryland Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee will consider a measure that would amend the state constitution and establish a “right” for the…
Voters’ Right to Know, a nonpartisan organization working to promote transparency of the money being spent to influence our country’s elections and lawmaking, is seeking a Digital Marketing / Creative Assistant to contribute to the production and execution of high-quality digital communications to support VRTK’s research and advocacy efforts. This position will work closely with…
By Christopher S. Elmendorf, Ann Ravel and Abby Wood As Facebook turned over more than 3,000 Russia-linked ads to Congress, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged Thursday a more subtle but equally disquieting feature of Facebook-mediated politics: “You … don’t know if you’re seeing the same messages as everyone else.” This might seem trivial, but it’s becoming a…
Commentary by Ann Ravel Whenever we open a newspaper or look on Twitter, we see how vulnerable we are to the undermining of our democratic institutions. Over the past twenty years, citizens in the United States have become more cynical about the value of democracy as a political system, less hopeful that anything they do…
