WASHINGTON, August 31 - On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill ruled a portion of Connecticut's Citizens' Election Program unconstitutional.
Lisa Gilbert, U.S. Public Interest Research Group’s Democracy Advocate commented, “the law was enacted in the aftermath of some of the biggest scandals in Connecticut history; if this decision stands it could turn back the clock on corruption in the state.”
Democratic Caucus Chair, Rep. John Larson of Connecticut, said, “This groundbreaking electoral system restored confidence in Connecticut's electoral process.”
A motion to stay the decision until the appeal process is completed was filed by Connecticut’s Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal.
The Connecticut Citizens’ Election Program was enacted in 2005 and went into effect last year, where an impressive 81% of the members elected to the state legislature in the state's first general election used the system.
At the federal level, Rep. Larson has introduced legislation modeled on the successful clean money systems in his state and others. The bi-partisan Fair Elections Now Act has 77 co-sponsors, including every member of Connecticut's Delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Fair Elections Now Act, an important step to end corruption, does not include the "trigger" mechanism that Judge Underhill called into question in his ruling.
Gilbert stated “The Fair Elections Now Act, like Connecticut's fair elections system, would help end politician’s dependence on big dollar donors and allow members of Congress to spend more time working with constituents and on the hot-button issues of the day.”
-###-
U.S. PIRG is the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. State PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organizations. For more on U.S. PIRG’s work on Campaign Finance Reform, click here.
