Most Americans agree that elections should be free from foreign influence. Apparently, some Democrats think differently.
This week, the Ohio Senate passed it Landmark legislation by Sen. Teresa Gavarone and Sen. Rob McCauley to ban foreign influence in vital voting measure campaigns. The problem couldn't be simpler.McCauley role put The question is, “Will we oppose foreign funding in elections?''
Democrats in the Ohio Senate unanimously answered, “No.” (Related: Jason Sneed: Election reform is a marathon, not a sprint)
There is no more bipartisan issue than protecting elections from corrupt foreign influence.polling show The public is overwhelmingly opposed to foreigners playing a role in American politics.
So why are the left championing foreign influence in elections? Because they benefit from $500 million in foreign funding from billionaire activist Hansjorg Wyss.
Though not a citizen, Wyss is one of the nation's largest political donors. According to a biography written by his own sister Wyss, the purpose to “[re]Interpret the U.S. Constitution from a progressive political perspective. ” He is putting his money where his mouth is.as a monitoring group Americans seek public trust Exposed, Wyss exploited a complex web of left-wing “dark money” groups to inject nearly $500 million into left-wing causes, while helping to hide overseas funding sources.
A single group, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, $243 a million. Sixteen Thirty, part of the Arabella Advisors dark money network, is a powerhouse of left-wing political funding.
NBC News reported at 6:30 p.m. Spent In 2022 alone, nearly $200 million “helped Democrats win elections” and “supported state ballot measures.”
Voting issues are a big focus for the left. The initiative should provide an opportunity for the people to directly check the power of the government. But the left has focused on weaponizing them, reducing “people-driven” voting measures to tools of leftist activism and backdoors for foreign electoral influence.
Federal law and most state laws prohibit foreign contributions to candidates.However, most states Do not apply the same safeguards For voting campaign. This creates a huge loophole that foreign groups like Sixteen Thirty are eager to exploit.
Since 2017, Sixteen Thirty Spent Approximately $80 million to influence 33 ballot measures in 18 states. Sixteen Thirty has spent on everything from abortion to Medicaid expansion, but it has focused most of its largest contributions on ballot measures. According to figures compiled by votingpediathe group has spent $3.5 million to fight voter ID in North Carolina, nearly $4 million to give voting rights to felons in Florida, and to implement error-prone automatic voter registration in Nevada. spent over $6 million.
In Michigan, 4:30 p.m. Spent $6 million to take away redistricting powers from the Republican-controlled Legislature; then Followed More than $11 million was raised to enshrine the left-wing rewrite of Michigan's voting laws into the state constitution, helping turn the state deep blue in a one-two punch.
Currently, foreign leftists have their sights set on Ohio.16:30 poured It donated more than $10 million to ballot measures last year and is one of the largest donors to the Michigan-style “independent” redistricting measure scheduled for a vote this November.
Marc Elias, a left-wing election lawyer, said: Whis representativeteeth file a lawsuit He appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court to move forward with another measure that would rewrite voting laws in the Buckeye State. The efforts are so extreme that will resume Door to non-referendum, something about Ohioans I just voted prohibit.
An issue of such importance should have no trace of foreign influence. It is already illegal for foreigners to donate to candidates. Ohio's SB 215 simply extends the same protections to ballot measure campaigns. It's hard to imagine a more bipartisan issue than this.
But this week's vote in the Ohio Senate shows Democrats are fully prepared to embrace foreign influence if it serves them. For a party that has railed against foreign interference in elections, this hypocrisy is surprising but not surprising. (Related: Jason Snead: Don't open a Pandora's box of voter confusion)
After all, “Zack Bucks” is perfect for the left one. scheme Injecting private money and left-wing politics into campaign offices.
The Biden administration is preparing to use tax dollars to finance nominally partisan vote-getting operations. And liberal groups like the Six Thirty Fund are willing to spend $255 million in foreign funds to influence American politics.
For the left, it's a win all around.
Voters have a right to elections they can trust, and that starts with protecting them from foreign influence. Ohio shows us how to protect ballot measure campaigns from corrupt foreign influence.
All states should follow suit.
Jason Snead is executive director of the Honest Elections Project
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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