How 600,000 People Broke Big Money's Grip On Power

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RepresentUsRepresentUs
Published: 14 Nov, 2016
1 min read

This election was historic for the movement to break big money’s grip on our political system. On November 8, 2016, voters in South Dakota passed the first-ever statewide Anti-Corruption Act. This ballot initiative was led by Represent.Us volunteers and members.

In San Francisco, a Represent.Us volunteer-led coalition passed a new law to stop lobbyists from bribing politicians. It passed by one of the widest margins of any law in San Francisco history.

In two Illinois counties, conservatives and progressives worked together to pass Anti-Corruption Resolutions calling for tough new statewide Anti-Corruption Acts.

In cities and counties in Oregon, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Rhode Island and California, Represent.Us members and our partners helped voters pass initiatives that make government more accountable to the people and strip power away from big money special interests.

This is actually a really big deal

I cannot overstate how important the victory in South Dakota, alongside nearly a dozen victories led by our members and partners across the country, is for the anti-corruption movement. Fixing our corrupt political system would unlock progress on nearly every issue that is currently stuck in state capitals and Washington, DC. And the dominos are beginning to fall. First Tallahassee, then Seattle and the state of Maine, and now 10+ victories this year led by an expanding coalition of organizations.

Continue Reading the Article Here.

Editor's note: This article originally published on Represent.us. Republished with permission.

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