Madison – Money Out Voters In Wisconsin, a statewide coalition of 34 organizations, is leading new initiatives to counter the avalanche of money in politics and to restore democracy to ordinary citizens on the eve of what is shaping up to be the most expensive midterm elections in U.S. history. Following the Citizens United v FEC (2010) and McCutcheon v FEC (2014) U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Congressional candidates have raised $1 billion for the November elections so far, and three times more undisclosed “dark” money has already been reported to the Federal Election Commission than the last midterm elections. The majority of all funding comes from less than 1% of the population, the rich and powerful who represent corporate interests. “According to the latest Gallup polling, the number one problem in America is dissatisfaction with government, corruption and abuse of power,” says Mike McCabe of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a coalition member.

On September 6, just two days before the U.S. Senate votes on the Democracy For All Resolution (SJ Res 19) to overturn Citizens United, The 28^th Amendment National Roadshow will convene hundreds of Wisconsinites at the Marquee Theater at the University of Wisconsin Union South building in Madison from 10 am to 4 pm. They will hear from John Nichols (journalist and author of Dollarocracy), Lisa Graves (Center for Media and Democracy), Mike McCabe (Wisconsin Democracy Campaign), Kaja Rebane and Jim Crist (Move to Amend), Scott Foval (People for the American Way) and Kyle Knox (Wolf PAC) and watch an exclusive pre-theatrical screening of the urgent new feature documentary Pay 2 Play: Democracy’s High Stakes at 2 pm with producer Holly Mosher (a Milwaukee native).

Participants will discuss how to build support in Wisconsin for an amendment to the U.S. constitution to overturn Citizens United v FEC among other initiatives to ensure the votes of all Americans count. While the Wisconsin State Legislature failed to adopt AJR50 this year, which would have placed a non-binding statewide referendum on the November ballot asking voters whether the U.S. Constitution should be amended to assert that corporations are not people and money is not speech, forty-three communities throughout Wisconsin have already passed resolutions on this issue and twelve more are slated for the ballot this fall.

Nationally, 16 states and nearly 600 municipalities are calling for a constitutional amendment and 22 other states are in progress, leading the way toward the number of states required to amend.

Other initiatives are also in progress: Wisconsin Voices coalition has just launched Our Democracy 2020, which plans to build voter support to challenge redistricting laws, among other impediments to fair elections. “Through partisan gerrymandering assisted by increasingly sophisticated computer mapping technology, elected officials have been able to handpick their voters and enhance their job security,” says Beverly Speer of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. “Our Democracy 2020 project seeks more public participation, transparency and protection of minority voting rights during the redistricting process.”

The 28^th Amendment National Roadshow opened on the west coast this spring with four stops (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland) and is now moving east to help share ideas to grow the democracy movement nationwide. “The Supreme Court has put the rights of billionaires and multinational corporations above the rights of 99.9% of Americans. We have lost our representation, and if we want it back, we need to get off the couch and get active!” says Jim Crist of Move to Amend. “The only way to get America back on track is to build a large, nationwide democracy movement that leads to the 28^th Amendment.”

National partner organizations include the Center for Media and Democracy, Common Cause, Free Speech for People, Move to Amend, Money Out Voters In, People for the American Way, Public Citizen, Rootstrikers, Stamp Stampede and Wolf PAC.

Wisconsin 28th Amendment National Roadshow

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 10 AM

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE http://28amend-movi.nationbuilder.com/madison

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THE MARQUEE THEATER AT UNION SOUTH

1308 Dayton Street

Madison, WI 53715

608-265-3000