Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Maryland lawmakers hope to boot foreign influence from state elections

Maryland lawmakers hope to boot foreign influence from state elections
Steven White / Getty Images

Curbing overseas influence in Maryland's elections is top of mind for two state lawmakers on the cusp of a new legislative session.

The pair of Democrats introduced legislation this week that would prohibit foreign-influenced corporations from making contributions to candidates or political committees in state elections.

Prospects for the bill are not clear. But if it's enacted, the state adjacent to Washington (where foreign influence in politics is a top-tier concern that's not been matched with any federal legislative response) would become the first in the country with such campaign finance restrictions.


Maryland law already restricts foreigners' donations to sway ballot measures. If passed, the proposed bill to expand the curb would take effect in time for the next legislative and gubernatorial elections in 2022.

The General Assembly is overwhelmingly Democratic, but Gov. Larry Hogan is a Republican. The authors of the bill are Sen. Clarence Lam, who represents suburban Baltimore, and Del. Julie Palakovich Carr, whose district includes Montgomery County, adjacent to D.C.

Under their legislation, corporations would have to certify that they are not owned in whole or in significant part by foreign entities before spending money in Maryland elections.

Businesses would be barred if any foreigner had more than a 1 percent stake, if two or more foreigners had holdings worth at least 5 percent, or if any foreigner was involved in the corporation's political activity.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Free Speech for People, a nonprofit that advocates for campaign finance reform, helped draft this legislation in Maryland, which was partially based off a first-of-its-kind ordinance in St. Petersburg, Fla. Seattle, New York City and Massachusetts are also considering similar measures. In November, the Center for American Progress unveiled proposed legislation that would implement these provisions on the federal level.

"Political spending by foreign-influenced corporations threatens American self-government and subverts efforts to prevent corruption and the appearance of corruption. It is time that we end foreign corporate spending in Maryland elections and that we provide a model for how other states can help safeguard their elections," said John Bonifaz, president of Free Speech for People.

Read More

"Voter Here" sign outside of a polling location.

"Voter Here" sign outside of a polling location.

Getty Images, Grace Cary

Stopping the Descent Toward Banana Republic Elections

President Trump’s election-related executive order begins by pointing out practices in Canada, Sweden, Brazil, and elsewhere that outperform the U.S. But it is Trump’s order itself that really demonstrates how far we’ve fallen behind. In none of the countries mentioned, or any other major democracy in the world, would the head of government change election rules by decree, as Trump has tried to do.

Trump is the leader of a political party that will fight for control of Congress in 2026, an election sure to be close, and important to his presidency. The leader of one side in such a competition has no business unilaterally changing its rules—that’s why executive decrees changing elections only happen in tinpot dictatorships, not democracies.

Keep ReadingShow less
"Vote" pin.
Getty Images, William Whitehurst

Most Americans’ Votes Don’t Matter in Deciding Elections

New research from the Unite America Institute confirms a stark reality: Most ballots cast in American elections don’t matter in deciding the outcome. In 2024, just 14% of eligible voters cast a meaningful vote that actually influenced the outcome of a U.S. House race. For state house races, on average across all 50 states, just 13% cast meaningful votes.

“Too many Americans have no real say in their democracy,” said Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano. “Every voter deserves a ballot that not only counts, but that truly matters. We should demand better than ‘elections in name only.’”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hand Placing Ballot in Box With American Flag
Getty Images, monkeybusinessimages

We Can Fix This: Our Politics Really Can Work – These Stories Show How

As American politics polarizes ever further, voters across the political spectrum agree that our current system is not delivering for the American people. Eighty-five percent of Americans feel most elected officials don’t care what people like them think. Eighty-eight percent of them say our political system is broken.

Whether it’s the quality and safety of their kids’ schools, housing affordability and rising homelessness, scarce and pricey healthcare, or any number of other issues that touch Americans’ everyday lives, the lived experience of polarization comes from such problems—and elected officials’ failure to address them.

Keep ReadingShow less
Why America’s Elections Will Never Be the Same After Trump
text
Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

Why America’s Elections Will Never Be the Same After Trump

Donald Trump wasted no time when he returned to the White House. Within hours, he signed over 200 executive orders, rapidly dismantling years of policy and consolidating control with the stroke of a pen. But the frenzy of reversals was only the surface. Beneath it lies a deeper, more troubling transformation: presidential elections have become all-or-nothing battles, where the victor rewrites the rules of government and the loser’s agenda is annihilated.

And it’s not just the orders. Trump’s second term has unleashed sweeping deportations, the purging of federal agencies, and a direct assault on the professional civil service. With the revival of Schedule F, regulatory rollbacks, and the targeting of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, the federal bureaucracy is being rigged to serve partisan ideology. Backing him is a GOP-led Congress, too cowardly—or too complicit—to assert its constitutional authority.

Keep ReadingShow less