Maine voters on Election Day approved a referendum limiting donations to so-called super PACs that spend independently in candidate elections, setting the stage for a legal showdown. The law imposes a $5,000 limit for donations to super PACs and supporters fully expect a lawsuit that could go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Voters fill out their ballots on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine.
The measure was carefully crafted to survive legal challenges as states try to find a way to regulate campaign spending after the Supreme Court's"We’ve become a place where our democracy is being bought and sold by the richest people in our country," said Bennett, a Republican from Oxford. “People of all political stripes support this measure. The only people who really oppose this are the monied interests who abuse the system.
Cara McCormick, leader of Citizens to End Super PACs in Maine, said the goal is to reduce the outsized influence that super PACs currently enjoy through so-called “dark money” spending. Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig, a longtime advocate for campaign finance reform, and his Equal Citizens nonprofit backed the Maine referendum. A similar citizen initiative effort in Massachusetts was blocked by the attorney general on constitutional concerns.
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