Maine Needs Clean Elections for a Clean Environment
by Susan van Alsenoy, Sierra Club Maine Executive Committee Member
Arriving at the polling station in Waldoboro, Maine, at 8 o’clock in the morning, I was delighted to find that I would be able to set up my signs and petitions inside the cavernous hall that was normally occupied by three fire engines and two ambulances.
This was the site of voting on Election Day, and my assigned place was right by the exit door, permitting me to request signatures from folks who had just competed voting. Many similar volunteers who filled the 1067 volunteer shifts at 205 polling locations across the state were not so lucky – they had to stand outside, and some did so from 8 in the morning to 8 at night, when the polls closed.
Maine’s state motto is Dirigo – “I lead”, and back in 1996, Maine passed the first clean election law in the country. It was tremendously effective, and by permitting normal everyday citizens to run for state offices, not just those who could afford to do so, we still have the most blue-collar legislature in the country.
But three recent Supreme Court decisions have drastically reduced the effectiveness of our history-making clean election law here in Maine. In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, they ruled in 2010 that it was unconstitutional to prohibit free speech by placing limitations on independent communications by corporations, associations, and/or unions.
In other words, these organizations could spend their own money to support or oppose political candidates by, for example, paying for TV ads. In 2011 in McComish v. Bennett, they declared matching funds, a cornerstone of our clean election law, unconstitutional. Then came McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission in 2014 which struck down aggregate limits, or rules, for how much a person can give in one campaign cycle.
The 2014 election was most expensive in Maine’s history. It was more than 4 times as expensive as 2010 with major donors and outside groups dominating the election.
So I, along with many other Maine Sierra Club members, rolled up our sleeves on November 4th, to circulate a citizen’s initiative petition to revamp and strengthen our existing clean election law. As Andrew Bossie, Executive Director of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, wrote,
“As Maine citizens – Republicans, Democrats, Greens, and independents – we went to the polls to gather signatures to move forward reforms that strengthen the voices of everyday people in our democracy. Tens of thousands of Maine citizens stepped up and signed our petition to show the state and the rest of the country that elections should be, and can be, about voters, not wealthy donors. This effort is truly of, by, and for Maine citizens. While we will not have a final count until all the petitions are notarized, signatures verified, and confirmed by the Secretary of State – a long process – we are so grateful that our Election Day effort was an enormous success.”
Clean elections are good for the environment and good for the whole country. None of us will be able to realize our agenda for climate change legislation, renewable energy, clean air and water, and a whole host of other environmentally-friendly rules and regulations until we can begin, once again, to control the money that is flooding into politics. Should you want to know how we are doing this, we’re happy to share.
With great hope,
Sue