Issue Position: Campaign Finance Reform and Expanding Voting Rights

Issue Position

"One person, one vote is the cornerstone of our country's political system. I will stand strong in my commitment to defend that principal so our leaders in Washington are only concerned with the will of the people." - Lisa Blunt Rochester

Over the last few decades there has been a shift in our politics to where money became more important than the will of the people. We reached a tipping point with the Citizens United decision in which the Supreme Court tore down the floodgates and let unlimited, unregulated money into our system. Not only did this allow for the outsized influence of corporations and Billionaires, but it has deeply eroded the already tenuous trust our communities have in their representatives.

The Citizens United decision was an incredible mistake that works to prevent everyday Americans from having a say in the political process. If I'm elected, one of my top priorities will be to reform our campaign finance system, and we need to start by passing legislation that will overturn the Citizens United decision, even if that means amending the Constitution.

Only when we get money truly out of our political system can we start to make sure that our elected officials are beholden only to the needs of our communities, not the checkbooks of special interests.

The next step after ending Citizens United is to open up the voting process and make sure our government is truly representative of our state and our nation. We need to renew our commitment to voting rights and institute Same Day Voter Registration so everyone's voice can be heard. And we need to address the issue of gerrymandering - where congressional lines are sliced up to serve personal political interests, not to best represent our people. We need an impartial redistricting process in order to create districts that are contiguous and properly represent their constituents. In Congress, I will introduce legislation to bring this process out of the smoke-filled back rooms and into the light.

In Congress, Lisa will be a champion for getting money out of politics and reforming our broken system by:

Working to pass a constitutional amendment declaring corporations aren't people and overturning Citizens United.
Pushing for national Same Day Voter Registration laws.
Introducing legislation to take drawing congressional districts out of the hands of politicians.

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