U.S. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware

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Elections and Campaign Finance

Elections and Campaign Finance

Elections and Campaign Finance

Fighting for fair, transparent elections

The integrity and the fairness of our elections are at the very heart of American democracy. They are among of the proudest legacies of our Founding Fathers and a beacon to the rest of the world.

Transparency is critical for free and fair elections and for democracy to function, because the American people —the voters who hire and fire all who serve in public office – have a right to know who each candidate represents, who is funding their campaigns, what goals they will pursue in office, in order to decide if that candidate will serve their interests.

Senator Coons’ election and campaign finance priorities include:

  • Overturn Citizens United.  In the Citizens United case, the Supreme Court decided that Congress cannot regulate how corporations spend money to influence elections.  The result is an impression that elected officials are accountable to corporate interests, even where they conflict with the interest of real American citizens.  Senator Coons supports an amendment to restore the view of the Constitution that prevailed before 2009 and permit Congress to pass reasonable corporate-speech restrictions to ensure accountability of elected officials.
  • No secret campaign spending. Citizens United also has the side effect of permitting corporations attempting to influence elections to do so in secret.  Secret speech is more likely to be negative, at great potential cost to civility and to our unity as a nation.  Secrecy also allows speakers to distort facts and conceal their real motivations.  Senator Coons supports legislation to ensure that Americans know who is behind campaign advertising.
  • Open and fair access to the ballot box.  Over the last several years, jurisdictions around the country have seen an increase in laws that raise the barriers to voting, disproportionally affect lower income and minority voters.   Chris supports the work of the Department of Justice to enforce the Voting Rights Act and combat fraud in our elections.

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