An Update on Maine
EqualCitizens.US took the lead to raise the funds necessary to gather signatures in Maine on the initiative that we believe will end SuperPACs. But as Lessig explained at the time, while we were eager to help give Mainers a choice about whether to take that first step, we will not be raising or giving funds to the campaign for the Initiative. That fight is for Mainers and the Maine Ballot Question Committee, Citizens To End SuperPACs, led by Cara McCormick (who was instrumental in the fight for Rank Choice Voting in Maine). (You can support them here.)
In January, as required by Maine law, we filed our “Major Contributor Report” with the Maine Commission on Ethics, reporting on our fundraising and in-kind contributions through the end of 2023. We reported more than we were obliged, and more than we would have had to report had we been a Maine “Ballot Question Committee.”
Today, political committees in Maine are required to file contribution/expenditure reports for the first quarter of 2024. As we were advised not to form a “ballot question committee” but simply report as a “major contributor,” we are not required to file a report today.
Nonetheless, we are today reporting contributions to support the Maine initiative and our in-kind contributions to the Maine Citizens To End SuperPACs here.
Pick your favorite transparency slogan; this is us practicing that slogan.
