Did you know that foreign nationals can donate to ballot measure campaigns?
Ballot measures are supposed to be another way for the people to check the power of the government. But left-wing special interests are weaponizing ballot measures to push their radical agenda. Through campaigns that are often misleading, the Left is abusing ballot measures to influence the results of elections and even to permanently skew voting laws for partisan gain.
Worse still, the Left is exploiting a loophole in the law that lets them use foreign-tied cash to do this. Foreign nationals cannot give to candidates or influence elections, but this common sense prohibition does not apply to ballot measures. As a result, foreign funds are influencing ballot measures across America.
One of the largest funders of these ballot issue campaign is a left-wing dark money behemoth, the Sixteen Thirty Fund. One of that group’s largest donors is Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, who has has poured nearly $250 million into the group. The Sixteen Thirty Fund in turn has spent $130 million in 25 states since 2014 to rewrite state Constitutions.
For instance, Michigan ballot issue campaigns have been given a whopping $33 million in foreign-tied cash. Arizona, Florida, Missouri, and more have seen millions in foreign-tied cash flood their states.
It is time to close this loophole and put an end to foreign influence in American elections. In 2024, Ohio passed a first-of-its-kind foreign funding ban, and the Honest Elections Project has developed a model bill to stop foreign funding in every state.
Foreign nationals are already prohibited from donating to U.S. political candidates, committees, and Super PACs, and the same prohibition should apply to state ballot issue campaigns.
Read Americans for Public Trust’s report revealing how foreign dark money groups funnel money into ballot initiatives to influence American elections and politics. See how states can use model language to stop foreign funding for ballot measures.
