Door County-United to Amend Group Forms to Limit Campaign Financing

On Nov. 8, residents in 18 more communities voted to amend the U.S. Constitution in order to allow limits on campaign financing. The amendment would undo the effects of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling that blocks any limitations on donations by outside organizations. The amendment would clarify that only human beings should have inalienable human rights and money is not the same thing as free speech.

All referenda passed with overwhelming majorities: Rock County (86 percent), Reedsburg (86 percent), Manitowoc (81 percent), Delafield (79 percent), Neshkoro (88 percent), New Glarus (88 percent), Spring Valley (91 percent), Osceola (86 percent), Mt. Horeb (84 percent), Monticello (86 percent), Clayton (86 percent) and the towns of New Glarus (83 percent), Harris (65 percent), Springdale (86 percent), Decatur (89 percent), Mount Pleasant (84 percent), Cadiz (87 percent) and Lake Tomahawk (91 percent).

According to Wisconsin United to Amend (wiuta.org), the referenda results bring the total number of Wisconsin communities calling on the Wisconsin legislature to support the amendment to 95. In total, 2.7 million people (46 percent of Wisconsinites) live in these jurisdictions.

The purpose behind municipal referenda and related resolutions is to get the Wisconsin legislature to put this resolution to a statewide vote and then join the growing number of states (18 so far) telling the U.S. Congress to move forward on the amendment to reduce the influence of organizational money on elections.

Here in Northeast Wisconsin, the City of Manitowoc passed its referendum with 81 percent approval, joining the City of Green Bay, which passed with 77 percent approval in 2014.

Locally, Door County-United to Amend has recently formed. It is a nonpartisan group whose mission is to raise awareness about the issues surrounding unlimited campaign financing and urge Door County municipalities to get involved by passing local resolutions and/or referenda calling on the state to support the amendment.

For more information on DC-UTA contact: Dan Powers, 920.743.6796 or Jim Black, 815.721.7474.