Maine Voters Send a Clear Message: They Want Foreign Money Out of Elections

money
Created: 07 Nov, 2023
Updated: 22 Jan, 2024
1 min read

Maine voters overwhelmingly approved Question 2 on Tuesday, a ballot measure that prohibits direct and indirect electioneering from foreign governments and foreign government-owned entities in candidate and ballot measure elections.

With 45% of precincts reporting in, 86% of voters said 'Yes' to Question 2.

Federal prohibitions on foreign spending in elections already applied to candidate races. However, there is a loophole on the subject of ballot referendums, and in the past few years over $100 million in federal spending went into ballot measure elections in Maine. 

“In this cycle, 83% of the spending has been by foreign government-owned entities," said Kaitlin LaCasse of Protect Maine Elections in a previous interview for IVN. Protect Maine Elections spearheaded the effort to pass Question 2.

Maine is the 8th state to ban foreign nationals from making contributions to ballot measure campaigns. The other 7 are California, Colorado, Maryland, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington.

Latest articles

Bernie Sanders
Sanders and AOC Wrap 'Fighting Oligarchy' Tour and Bernie Takes the Mic at Coachella
US Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrapped up their Fighting Oligarchy Tour on April 16, after a five-day, seven-stop sweep through the West that drew nearly 150,000 people—capping it off with an unexpected appearance by Sanders at the Coachella music festival....
18 Apr, 2025
-
3 min read
AOC
Is Bernie Passing the Torch to AOC for the 2028 Presidential Election?
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) continues to make waves in US politics. She is co-headlining rallies across the country with US Sen. Bernie Sanders as part of the "Fighting Oligarchy Tour," which has drawn large crowds even in GOP strongholds....
17 Apr, 2025
-
4 min read
Oakland and San Francisco
Analysis: Popular Oakland Ranked Choice Voting System Used to Decide City's Next Mayor
On Tuesday, Oakland, CA used ranked choice voting (RCV) in special elections for mayor and City Council District 2 – marking Oakland’s 5th mayoral election using RCV. A 2024 poll found that 77% of Oakland voters are satisfied with the election method. ...
16 Apr, 2025
-
2 min read