Democracy, Voter Rights, and Federal Power

Efforts to limit democratic participation, facilitate big money in politics, and override the federal government This page shows how ALEC bills or resolutions would disenfranchise Americans and give corporations even more power to use their vast financial resources to influence elections in our democracy. These "model bills" include the infamous "Voter ID" bills pushed through this year by new governors, many of whom have ties to ALEC. Through ALEC, corporations have both a VOICE and a VOTE on specific state laws affecting your voting rights and elections through these model bills. Do you?

You can access these ALEC "model" on guns, prisons, crime, and immigration here. Download a one-page fact sheet on ALEC and guns, prisons, crime, and immigration here. Send a letter to ALEC companies asking them to cut ties with ALEC.

How do these bills limit democratic participation? These bills limit the democratic influence of average Americans in favor of corporations by: Disenfranchising disabled, low-income, elderly, people-of-color, and student voters who move more frequently or do not drive, by requiring all voters show a state ID at the polls -- even though counties have traditionally accepted other proofs of residence without any significant problems. Opposing public financing of elections designed to reduce the influence of moneyed interests, and justifying their position with the plainly untrue assertion that "campaign contributions have no effect upon legislative behavior." Anticipating unlimited secret spending in the 2010 midterm elections and releasing a resolution opposing the disclosure of donors, before many others recognized how corporations, CEOs, and corporate front groups would hide behind non-disclosure rules and funnel hundreds of millions of dollars into the 2010 elections, with more to come in 2012. Opposing the use of statistical sampling to get an accurate count of urban people of color and immigrants in the U.S. Census, although many modern countries use such cost-effective and accurate tools to conduct their census. Some politicians have expressed concern that this would increase the number of electoral votes and districts to favor Democrats. Opposing "false statement" laws passed by states designed to ensure that campaign ads do not mislead voters with false statements. To see a full list of these bills, click here John Nichols on ALEC & Democracy Watch John Nichols, writer for The Nation magazine, discuss ALEC and the corporate efforts to undermine democracy. Watch other ALEC Exposed experts here. Read John Nichols' article in The Nation here. READ the "Model Bills" HERE Click here for a zip file of Democracy, Voter Rights and Federal Power bills Looking for the resolution voted on by ALEC politicians and corporations in favor of the Supreme Court's decision in the "Citizens United" case? It's here. For a full list of individual bills from this section, click here For descriptions of some of these bills, scroll down or click here.		Some of this Corporate Agenda Has Already Become Law Taking a page from the ALEC corporate playbook, in May 2011 Wisconsin Governor and ALEC alumni Scott Walker signed into law one of the most restrictive Voter ID restrictions in the country. Wisconsin's bill would allow a narrow list of IDs for voting, including driver's licenses and state-issued ID cards. According to a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee study, about 177,000 Wisconsinites aged 65 and older do not have state-issued IDs. Statewide, only 45 percent of African American males and 51 percent of females have a valid drivers license. The bill makes it particularly burdensome for college students to vote, a group who overwhelmingly supported Obama in 2008. The Wisconsin bill is a more detailed version of ALEC's Voter ID Act of 2009. To pay for the Voter ID bill, the Wisconsin Joint Finance committee raided the money set aside for the public financing of campaigns, ending a 34-year tradition of public financing for elections in Wisconsin -- in conformity with ALEC's Resolution Opposing Taxpayer Financing of Political Campaigns. Learn more here. This information is available for download as a one-page fact sheet here. More Helpful Resources Additional resources on ALEC's corporate agenda: ALEC Funding, PRWatch (2011) American Legislative Exchange Council and other related articles, SourceWatch (2011) Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America, American Association for Justice (2010) Climate Denial Report on ALEC and Exxon Funding for ALEC, Greenpeace (2011) Governing the Nation from the Statehouses, Progressive States Network (2006) Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, Common Cause (2006) Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law, NPR (2010) Exposing ALEC, blogging group, Daily KOS (2011) ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures, People for the American Way (2011) Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States, Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council (2002) The Attack on Trial Lawyers and Tort Law, Commonwealth Institute (2003) Wisconsin's Cronon Affair: The Power of a Simple Fact, The Nation Magazine (2011) Ghostwriting the Law, Mother Jones (2002) ALEC Behind Voter Disenfranchisement Efforts, Center for American Progress (2011) ALEC Report, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (2011) ALEC Exposed: Business Domination Inc., The Nation Magazine (2011)

Learn MORE about the "Model Bills" ALEC Corporations Are Backing to Rewrite YOUR Rights The Center for Media and Democracy analyzed the bills ALEC politicians and corporations voted for. More analysis is available below and also at ALEC Exposed's sister sites, PRWatch and SourceWatch.

Who Is Behind ALEC? What Is ALEC? Who Funds ALEC? ALEC Corporations Corporations That Have Cut Ties to ALEC ALEC Politicians (all states) Legislators Who Have Cut Ties to ALEC ALEC Non-Profits and Think Tanks ALEC State Chairs ALEC "Scholars" ALEC Boards & Task Forces ALEC's Koch Connection Common Cause Trove of ALEC Task Force Docs

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