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The last such referendum, in 2017, went overwhelmingly for statehood -- but opponents boycotted the contest.
Puerto Ricans will vote this fall to seek statehood or independence
May 20 2020
Puerto Rico will vote on whether to seek statehood or independence in November, the latest ballot measure posing a fundamental question about the future of American democracy.
The outcome of the referendum will compel the island's government to negotiate with Washington the details of one of those options for ending a system in place for 70 years: Puerto Ricans are American citizens who are exempt from federal income taxes and have significant local autonomy, but in return they get much less federal aid than the states and have no electoral votes or voting members of Congress.
The referendum is ultimately non-binding because Congress and the president would have to agree to end Puerto Rico's current commonwealth arrangement. But the result will still send a signal about the desires of Americans now lacking full democratic rights – and could intensify or deflate momentum for statehood in Washington, D.C.
<p>Residents of the nation's capital, who have been pressing consistently and for decades to become the 51st state, hold out hope they might get their wish if Democrats control both Congress and the White House next year.</p><p>But the people of Puerto Rico have sent inconsistent and ambivalent signals in five previous referendums in the past half century. Maintaining the status quo received the most votes in 1967, 1993 and 1998, after which statehood has come on strong — although the most recent plebiscite, three years ago, was boycotted by one of the three major political parties and so turnout was just 23 percent. Outright independence has never been supported by more than 6 percent.</p><p>The new measure will be the first offering residents only the options of statehood or independence, also dubbed "free association."</p><p>The island's political parties align mostly on the issue of political status, and Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced as well as a majority of the Legislature belong to the pro-statehood New Progressive Party.<br/></p><p>"Our people will have the opportunity once and for all to define our future," the governor said in signing the referendum bill Saturday. "It's never too late to be treated as equals."</p><p>The vote will come at a time of intensifying disillusion among Puerto Ricans about their treatment by Washington. The island has struggled to obtain all the federal aid it says is needed to recover from hurricanes Irma and Maria, a string of strong earthquakes and the coronavirus pandemic. And its economy has been weakened in part by the end of federal tax incentives that had steered businesses to the commonwealth.</p><p>Congress has not moved legislation in response to any of the earlier referendums and there's no guarantee it would next year, either. President Trump's clearest statement on the matter, two years ago, was that "Puerto Rico shouldn't be talking about statehood until they get some people that really know what they're doing." His Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, has not taken a firm stand on the island's future.</p><p>Puerto Rico's population of 3.2 million is closest to that of Iowa, suggesting statehood would mean four House members for the island as well as a pair of senators. Unlike D.C., which could be counted on to elect nothing but Democrats to Congress if it were a state, the partisan nature of a potential Puerto Rican delegation is unclear. </p><p>Other prominent democracy reform measures that have won spits on statewide ballots Nov. 3 include proposals to open Florida's primaries to all voters, have Colorado quit a promise to pledge its electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, roll back Missouri's two-year-old partisan <a data-linked-post="2636688309" href="https://thefulcrum.us/gerrymandering" target="_blank">gerrymandering</a> reforms and institute an independent redistricting commission in Virginia.</p>
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USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative: Washington
Apr 09 2020
Organizer: University of Southern California — Election Cybersecurity Initiative
Because of the COVID-19 virus, we are facing unprecedented changes to our election landscape. Cybersecurity is more important than ever, and we now have to view it through a different lens. At our virtual workshop, we will be discussing primary date changes, direct mail voting, facts you need to know and best practices for cyber safety. Campaigns, policymakers, thought-leaders and concerned citizens alike need objective, factual tools and information to help them secure campaigns and elections. The USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative is a brand new non-partisan independent project, supported by Google, to help protect campaigns and elections from cyber attacks.
Join us for a virtual workshop, designed to help protect campaigns and elections in this critical election year. Information for joining the call will be emailed to you 24-48 hours in advance of the workshop.
Location: Webinar
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge claiming Seattle's democracy vouchers are unconstitutional.
Seattle's public funding for candidates survives Supreme Court challenge
Mar 31 2020
A constitutional challenge to Seattle's "democracy voucher" program, the only system of its kind for subsidizing political campaigns with taxpayer funds, has fallen on deaf ears at the Supreme Court.
Two property owners in the city maintained the unique system violates their First Amendment rights by compelling them, through their tax payments, to support candidates they oppose. The justices turned down their appeal Monday without comment.
It was a rare bit of good news for advocates of reducing the influence of big money on politics, who have been disappointed by almost every campaign finance decision by the high court in the past decade.
<p>By declining to hear the case, the justices let stand a decision in July by the Washington Supreme Court. It <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/campaign-finance/seattle-public-financing" target="_self">unanimously rejected the argument</a> that taxpayers' free speech rights had been violated and allowed Seattle's program to continue — not an insignificant win for those who view expanded public financing of elections as potentially transformational to the cause of good governance.</p><p>With 63 percent support, Seattle voted to create the program in 2015 and vouchers were first distributed two years later. With about $3 million in dedicated local tax revenue every year, each voter receives four $25 vouchers they may donate to candidates — but only those who agree to exclusively accept small-dollar donations in addition to the scrip, and to limit their spending.</p><p>Last year, 36 candidates received a combined 98,000 voucher donations worth almost $2.5 million. Seven of the nine council seats were up for election in 2019 and all but one of the winning candidates used vouchers to fund their campaigns. And that was even though Amazon, labor unions and other businesses spent almost $4 million to oppose many of them because of their support of a local tax increase on businesses.</p><p>Campaign finance reform advocates say public financing programs help diversify the candidate field because it makes campaigning, which has become increasingly expensive even at the local level, more accessible. Supporters also say these programs help combat special interest influences in elections and boost the civic engagement of poorer people who could not otherwise afford putting money behind candidates.</p><p>Seattle's system "loosens the stranglehold that large donors have had over the terms of political debate by giving a more diverse pool of people an opportunity to have their voices heard," said Paul Smith of the Campaign Legal Center, which helped defend the program against the lawsuit. "Our victory in this case protects campaign finance reform efforts around the country and helps uphold the constitutional principle of self-governance."</p><p>The libertarian-leaning Pacific Legal Foundation, which mounted the challenge, predicted the court would revisit the free speech argument as other cities and states adopt public financing methods. (So far, though <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/public-financing-albuquerque-san-francisco" target="_self">Albuquerque</a> is the only other place that has considered a system like Seattle's, and voters there narrowly rejected it last fall.)</p><p>"We don't see this as a sign that the court is uninterested in the issues raised," foundation attorney Ethan Blevins said.</p>
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"What we've seen in Seattle and the state is that there is no quick fix to Citizens United," writes Cindy Black. "Instead, a holistic approach is needed."
With democracy reform stalled on Capitol Hill, local and state solutions needed
Mar 24 2020
Black is executive director of Seattle-based Fix Democracy First, which advocates for campaign finance, election access and voting rights reforms.
While important democratic reforms continue to stall in the Senate, activists in some states and municipalities are showing there's another way.
In Washington state, we've created a blueprint to rein in money in politics that can work elsewhere.
We've shown that a combination of public financing of elections, increasing access to the ballot, requiring nonprofits to disclose their top donors and coming up with creative ways to restrict the flow of corporate cash into politics can go a long way in returning government to the people.
<p>We can't afford to wait on a national fix to the problems the Supreme Court created with its ruling in <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/citizens-united" target="_self">Citizens United v. FEC</a>. The 2010 decision upended long-standing campaign finance laws, unleashing a torrent of unrestrained political cash on our elections. The ruling allows outside groups and donors to spend whatever they want in an election as long as the expenditures aren't coordinated with the candidate benefiting from their money. </p>
<p>In the decade since, outside spending in support of or against candidates has blown through the stratosphere. In 2016, during the last presidential election campaign, outside groups spent $1.4 billion on influence campaigns, up from $338 million in 2008, according to the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/reports/a-decade-under-citizens-united" target="_blank">Center for Responsive Politics</a>.</p>
<p>The rise of <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/super-pac" target="_self">super PACs</a> and mega-donors has had a terrible impact on our day-to-day lives. The unbalanced influence of this obscene political spending has led to rotten policies and laws that protect the interests of the elite at the expense of the rest of us. </p>
<p>It's not a stretch to say that Citizens United, and the sway of the mega-donors, has played a part in everything from rolling back environmental regulations to out-of-control prescription drug prices.</p>
<p>We're fighting back on the local level. And we're winning.</p>
<p>In January, the Seattle City Council passed a law aimed at restricting political spending by corporations with substantial foreign investment, which would include hometown behemoth Amazon. Campaign finance reform advocates across the country <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/opinion/seattle-citizens-united.html" target="_blank">have hailed the law</a> as a brilliant counter to Citizens United.</p>
<p>However, this law might not have stood a chance at passing if not for Initiative 122, which Seattle voters overwhelmingly approved in 2015. Initiative 122 created a public campaign finance system where every <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/candidates-for-seattle-city-council-have-collected-1-6-million-in-democracy-vouchers-so-far/" target="_blank">Seattle resident receives $100 in "democracy vouchers"</a> to give to candidates of their choice. </p>
<p>The voucher system helped grassroots candidates beat back a deluge of corporate cash in last year's city election, as a slate of Amazon-backed candidates went down to defeat.</p>
<p>What we've seen in Seattle and the state is that there is no quick fix to Citizens United. Instead, a holistic approach is needed.</p>
<p>The state's recent expansion of voting rights through automatic voter registration and same-day registration were a big part of the puzzle. But just as important was a new law that requires politically active nonprofits to disclose their top donors. </p>
<p>Victories in the hyperpartisan halls of Congress can be tougher to come by.</p>
<p>Constitutional amendments can take decades to become reality. Legislative solutions, such as the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/8/18253609/hr-1-pelosi-house-democrats-anti-corruption-mcconnell" target="_blank">For the People Act of 2019</a>, or HR 1, can get mired in bipartisan politics. The House passed the bill — which would strengthen campaign finance, voting and ethics laws — a year ago this month. And one year later, we're still fighting to get this critical legislation a hearing in the GOP-controlled Senate.</p>
<p>One thing is clear: We can't rely on Congress to solve our problems. Cities and states must lead the fight.</p>
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