Conservative Republican ALEC-Linked Group Revealed As Attacking Average American's Most Fundamental Rights

Conservative Republican ALEC-Linked Group Revealed As Attacking Average American's Most Fundamental Rights

Last month, Maine voters delivered a major rebuke to Gov. Paul LePage (R) and the Republican-held legislature when they approved a referendum restoring election day voting registration rights in the state. Earlier this year, state legislators passed a bill repealing the state’s 38 year-old law allowing citizens to register at the polls on election day.

Tens of thousands of Mainers responded by petitioning for the matter come to a referendum. Issue 1 was one of the most-anticipated votes on election day this year, with pundits watching closely to see how citizens would react to the Republican-led war on voting, which ramped up in states across the country this year.

Recognizing the referendum’s importance, voting rights opponents poured money into the campaign to repeal election day registration. In fact, just two days after the state’s campaign finance reporting deadline, a secret conservative donor funneled $250,000 into the race, allowing the No On 1 campaign to make significant TV ad buys in an inexpensive media market.

Per state law, however, the identity of donors must be revealed within 45 days after the election. In fact, the entire $250,000 worth of late money came from a single source: the American Justice Partnership.

The AJP is a conservative legal organization based not in Maine, but in Michigan. On their website, the group states they are fighting against “the scheming George Soros money machine” which is “trying to sabotage your right to vote,” a claim apparently made without a hint of irony. Though the AJP doesn’t disclose where its funding comes from, the Bangor Daily News notes that it has partnered with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in the past, a group that has been instrumental in the proliferation of voter ID laws across the country.

The AJP’s secret $250,000 contribution ultimately accounted for over 78 percent of all the money raised by the No On 1 campaign. In other words, over three-quarters of the funding for opponents of election day registration in Maine came from Michigan. (This money was then used to run ads decrying “outsiders from other states” who were influencing the Maine election.) With Mainers of all stripes explaining to ThinkProgress why they cherish having the option to register at the polls on election day, it’s not altogether surprising that the predominance of financial support for No On 1 came from out of state.

Though AJP’s website correctly warns that “Your right to vote is at stake”, it’s groups like AJB and ALEC that are threatening that right in the first place. Maine voters stood up to the influence of voting rights opponents in November, however, passing Issue 1 by an overwhelming 61-39 margin and restoring election day registration in the Pine Tree State.

Protect Internet Freedom, America Must Act to Prevent This Attack On Our Democratic Republic - The PROTECT IP Act Is Very Real and Very Bad — Call Now to Block It

Protect Internet Freedom, America Must Act to Prevent This Attack On Our Democratic Republic - The PROTECT IP Act Is Very Real and Very Bad — Call Now to Block It

The PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) is the evil step-sister of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the much-criticized Internet blacklist bill introduced in the House last month. They’ve got a lot in common — both bills would allow the government and private rightsholders to censor the Internet for Americans, and both bills have faced strong opposition from regular citizens, business leaders, and public interest groups.

In one way, though, PIPA is much worse: while SOPA is still in the House committee stage and has been the target of extraordinary public opposition, PIPA is already out of committee and poised for consideration of the full Senate. That means PIPA is a few dangerous steps further along in the process of becoming law. And with only a few weeks to go in this legislative session, the Senate may try to rush the bill through before the public has a chance to respond.

We're not going to let that happen. Despite their efforts to push this through under the radar, folks who care about the Internet and innovation are tracking this bill and getting the word out. You can help, in an old-school and very effective way: Pick up the phone.

Right now, the best response to this threat is to let your Senator hear your voice, explaining why you as a constituent think PIPA is such a bad idea. That’s why we’ve joined with many other public interest groups, including Public Knowledge, Fight for the Future, Demand Progress and others, in asking the public to call in to the Senate.

Even if you’ve already used our action alert (and thank you), please take a few minutes now and get on the phone with your Senator’s office. Let them know that Internet censorship is unacceptable.

Here are some talking points for you to mention during the phone call:

    Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a constituent of the Senator.

    I think S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act, is a bad idea, and I hope the Senator will stand against it.

    PROTECT IP is overbroad, and could be used as a tool for online censorship. Further, it creates a bad precedent internationally for fragmenting the Internet.

    Thank you for your consideration, and for acting against this dangerous bill.

Find your state in the list below to get the phone numbers for your Senators. If your Senator has already spoken out against PIPA, his or her name will be in bold text. Please call to thank them for their position!

Big content is not going to give up on the idea that the best way to protect its slow-moving business model is to ensure that it gets to dictate the pace of innovation.  Let’s send a signal that the next generation of creators and innovators will not let big content decide the future of the Internet.

Help us spread the word!

Once you’ve called your Senators, there are still more steps you can take to fight this disastrous bill. Tell your friends, in person, on Facebook, or on Twitter, and ask them to call their Senators. You can join over 100,000 Americans who have signed a Demand Progress petition — Senator Ron Wyden has promised to read from the list if he needs to filibuster the bill. And if you haven’t yet used our action alert, act now to e-mail your legislators with your opposition.

State     Senator     Phone
Alabama     Richard Shelby     (202) 224-5744
Alabama     Jeff Sessions     (202) 224-4124
Alaska     Lisa Murkowski     (202) 224-6665
Alaska     Mark Begich     (202) 224-3004
Arizona     John McCain     (202) 224-2235
Arizona     Jon Kyl     (202) 224-4521
Arkansas     Mark Pryor     (202) 224-2353
Arkansas     John Boozman     (202) 224-4843
California     Dianne Feinstein     (202) 224-3841
California     Barbara Boxer     (202) 224-3553
Colorado     Mark Udall     (202) 224-5941
Colorado     Michael Bennet     (202) 224-5852
Connecticut     Joe Lieberman     (202) 224-4041
Connecticut     Richard Blumenthal     (202) 224-2823
Delaware     Tom Carper     (202) 224-2441
Delaware     Chris Coons     (202) 224-5042
Florida     Bill Nelson     (202) 224-5274
Florida     Marco Rubio     (202) 224-3041
Georgia     Saxby Chambliss     (202) 224-3521
Georgia     Johnny Isakson     (202) 224-3643
Hawaii     Daniel Inouye     (202) 224-3934
Hawaii     Daniel Akaka     (202) 224-6361
Idaho     Mike Crapo     (202) 224-6142
Idaho     Jim Risch     (202) 224-2752
Illinois     Dick Durbin     (202) 224-2152
Illinois     Mark Kirk     (202) 224-2854
Indiana     Richard Lugar     (202) 224-4814
Indiana     Dan Coats     (202) 224-5623
Iowa     Chuck Grassley     (202) 224-3744
Iowa     Tom Harkin     (202) 224-3254
Kansas     Pat Roberts     (202) 224-4774
Kansas     Jerry Moran     (202) 224-6521
Kentucky     Mitch McConnell     (202) 224-2541
Kentucky     Rand Paul     (202) 224-4343
Louisiana     Mary Landrieu     (202) 224-5824
Louisiana     David Vitter     (202) 224-4623
Maine     Olympia Snowe     (202) 224-5344
Maine     Susan Collins     (202) 224-2523
Maryland     Barbara Mikulski     (202) 224-4654
Maryland     Ben Cardin     (202) 224-4524
Massachusetts     John Kerry     (202) 224-2742
Massachusetts     Scott Brown     (202) 224-4543
Michigan     Carl Levin     (202) 224-6221
Michigan     Debbie Stabenow     (202) 224-4822
Minnesota     Amy Klobuchar     (202) 224-3244
Minnesota     Al Franken     (202) 224-5641
Mississippi     Thad Cochran     (202) 224-5054
Mississippi     Roger Wicker     (202) 224-6253
Missouri     Claire McCaskill     (202) 224-6154
Missouri     Roy Blunt     (202) 224-5721
Montana     Max Baucus     (202) 224-2651
Montana     Jon Tester     (202) 224-2644
Nebraska     Ben Nelson     (202) 224-6551
Nebraska     Mike Johanns     (202) 224-4224
Nevada     Harry Reid     (202) 224-3542
Nevada     Dean Heller     (202) 224-6244
New Hampshire     Jeanne Shaheen     (202) 224-2841
New Hampshire     Kelly Ayotte     (202) 224-3324
New Jersey     Frank Lautenberg     (202) 224-3224
New Jersey     Bob Menendez     (202) 224-4744
New Mexico     Jeff Bingaman     (202) 224-5521
New Mexico     Tom Udall     (202) 224-6621
New York     Chuck Schumer     (202) 224-6542
New York     Kirsten Gillibrand     (202) 224-4451
North Carolina     Richard Burr     (202) 224-3154
North Carolina     Kay Hagan     (202) 224-6342
North Dakota     Kent Conrad     (202) 224-2043
North Dakota     John Hoeven     (202) 224-2551
Ohio     Sherrod Brown     (202) 224-2315
Ohio     Rob Portman     (202) 224-3353
Oklahoma     Jim Inhofe     (202) 224-4721
Oklahoma     Tom Coburn     (202) 224-5754
Oregon     Ron Wyden     (202) 224-5244
Oregon     Jeff Merkley     (202) 224-3753
Pennsylvania     Bob Casey, Jr.     (202) 224-6324
Pennsylvania     Pat Toomey     (202) 224-4254
Rhode Island     Jack Reed     (202) 224-4642
Rhode Island     Sheldon Whitehouse     (202) 224-2921
South Carolina     Lindsey Graham     (202) 224-5972
South Carolina     Jim DeMint     (202) 224-6121
South Dakota     Tim Johnson     (202) 224-5842
South Dakota     John Thune     (202) 224-2321
Tennessee     Lamar Alexander     (202) 224-4944
Tennessee     Bob Corker     (202) 224-3344
Texas     Kay Bailey Hutchison     (202) 224-5922
Texas     John Cornyn     (202) 224-2934
Utah     Orrin Hatch     (202) 224-5251
Utah     Mike Lee     (202) 224-5444
Vermont     Patrick Leahy     (202) 224-4242
Vermont     Bernie Sanders     (202) 224-5141
Virginia     Jim Webb     (202) 224-4024
Virginia     Mark Warner     (202) 224-2023
Washington     Patty Murray     (202) 224-2621
Washington     Maria Cantwell     (202) 224-3441
West Virginia     Jay Rockefeller     (202) 224-6472
West Virginia     Joe Manchin     (202) 224-3954
Wisconsin     Herb Kohl     (202) 224-5653
Wisconsin     Ron Johnson     (202) 224-5323
Wyoming     Mike Enzi     (202) 224-3424
Wyoming     John Barrasso     (202) 224-6441

Almost all these senators have contact them by e-mail entries on their websites for those who either want to double up on your contact efforts or e-mail is just more convenient..