Democracy

Tonight, the Denver City Council is voted to place on the November ballot a new campaign finance system that candidates can opt-in to that would allow participants to run for office fueled by small donations and average voters. The measure improves upon the previous Democracy for the People measure that will be pulled from the ballot by the proponents.

CoPIRG Director Danny Katz applauds Colorado Representative Mike Coffman (R) for introducing H.R. 4077, the bipartisan Honest Ads Act, along with Washington Representative Derek Kilmer (D). “Coloradans should know who’s behind the ads they get bombarded with every election – it’s critical to democracy,” said Danny Katz, CoPIRG Director. “The current divide between what needs to be disclosed in ads on traditional media and online platforms is outdated, and it has kept voters in the dark about communications that are intended to influence our vote. This legislation is a strong step to ensure transparency in our elections, and to rebuild faith in our political process.” 

Read CoPIRG's statement on the President's establishment of an "Advisory Commission on Election Integrity."

On Tuesday, congressional candidates in Colorado, Oklahoma, New York, and Utah competed in primaries for the House and Senate. Higher-fundraising candidates won the vast majority of these races, repeating a trend that has so far defined congressional primaries in over thirty states across the country. According to an analysis by U.S. PIRG Education Fund, nearly 82 percent of higher fundraising candidates have won their congressional primaries so far in the 2016 election cycle.