Clean Elections Institute Inc.

Please Donate Today

Without you, we cannot continue our vital work! Clean Elections Institute operates primarily on individual donations from selfless contributors such as yourself and a few foundation grants. Because of our spectacular legislative and administrative successes in making Clean Elections in Arizona safe, stable, and successful (see below news items), we are planning to expand our operations into additional initiatives to reduce the influence of money in politics, increase the transparency of elections, and improve citizen representation. We need your help now more than ever to show potential national funders that we have a broad base of support in Arizona. With your help we can insure that Arizona will remain a national leader in improving citizen access to the political process.

Checks (payable to Clean Elections Institute) can be mailed to the address below or you can make a credit card donation by phone.

Clean Elections Institute is 501 (C)(3) organization and all donations are fully tax deductible as charitable contributions.

CLEAN ELECTIONS INSTITUTE, INC.

2702 N 3rd Street, Suite 4010 Phoenix, Arizona 85004

Phone: 602.840.6633 www.azclean.org

LATEST NEWS

3-26-08 BILL TO ALLOW RAID OF CLEAN ELECTIONS FUNDS PASSES HOUSE! - HCR2044 would allow the Legislature to drain the Clean Elections Fund and other voter-approved funds in times of "budget deficit". Clean Elections funds are not appropriated by the Legislature. Removal of the money would destroy Clean Elections, leaving the system unable to fund candidates. Please contact your senator and ask them to oppose this bill.

3-20-08 SO-CALLED "CLEAN ELECTIONS FOR JUDGES" BILL HELD IN HOUSE! - HCR2063, to eliminate our nonpartisan merit-selection process for judges in Maricopa and Pima Counties and replace it with partisan elections for judges, was retained on the House calendar. This bad bill would force most sitting judges out of office, make them responsive to popular sentiment rather than ruling on the factual merits of a case, and could bankrupt the Clean Elections system. In February, Clean Elections Institute helped to kill an identical bill in the Senate. Please contact your legislators and ask them to vote No if this bill comes up for a vote.

10-30-07 STATUTORY AND RULE CHANGES TO MAKE SYSTEM MORE USER-FRIENDLY FOR ALL CANDIDATES! - Legislative improvements (click here for summary) and administrative rule changes will simplify and clarify the process and make the 2008 election more fair for all candidates. A summary of the rule changes will be posted soon.

6-21-07 CLEAN ELECTIONS SUPPORTERS MAKE HISTORIC IMPROVEMENT BILL SUCCESSFUL!! - With the help of hundreds of Clean Elections supporters, HB2690, a bipartisan bill making minor but necessary improvements to the highly successful Clean Elections Act, passed both the House, by a unanimous vote (59-0), and the Senate by an overwhelming majority (24-2). Passage of this bill will aid in the long term survival and success of Clean Elections by negating the opposition arguments that the system is unfair, unworkable and cannot be improved.

5-10-07 ANTI-CLEAN ELECTIONS LAWSUIT DISMISSED! - The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed the AAPS v. Brewer lawsuit, which challenged the matching funds provisions of Clean Elections. The Phoenix District Court ruled in favor of Clean Elections in 2005, finding the challenged provisions constitutional. The appeal was dismissed as "moot" because the plaintiffs can no longer claim harm from Clean Elections. AAPS has dissolved their PAC, which never did fund any Arizona candidates.

02-21-07 NAME CHANGE BILL FAILS IN SENATE! - SB1188, which would have changed the name from "Clean Elections Act" to "Publicly Funded Elections Act" failed on a vote of 17 Yes to 13 No (required a 3/4 majority to pass). This was a disguised precurser to a future repeal effort so voters could be asked to repeal the unknown and distateful sounding "publicly funded elections" instead of the familiar and popular "Clean Elections".

CLEAN ELECTIONS on NOW on PBS - On October 20th, the PBS weekly newsmagazine NOW presented a special hour-long investigation into the fight to keep American elections free and fair across the country. "Votes for Sale?" spotlighted the Clean Elections movement, highlighting the Arizona and Maine experience, and including interviews with Arizona officials and candidates. Click here to link to NOW and to view the video. Click here to see the transcript.

9-14-06 David Burnell Smith loses comeback bid - quits politics! - Smith, the first and only elected official nationwide to be removed from office for violations of a public financing statute, failed to win the nomination for his old seat in the September 12th primary election. After spending more than $100,000 in court fighting his ouster and more money on his "reelection" campaign, Smith has decided to quit politics. He still owes the Clean Elections Fund $44,000 in fines and restitution. MORE

6-27-06 - The Supreme Court's decision regarding Vermont (Randall v. Sorrell), does not impact Arizona Clean Elections. An analysis of their decision was prepared by the Brennan Center for Justice. Click here to read their analysis.

March 15, 2005 - The Clean Campaigner Newsletter - Recap of current events. If you want to sign up for our newsletter, please email us at info@azclean.org.