Essential resources to learn about the influence of money in politics and voter suppression. Learn about the history of voting rights, campaign finance, and how corporations use campaign donations to influence elections and policy outcomes.

A Century of Campaign Finance Laws

From soft money to attack ads, NPR provides an overview of the U.S. campaign finance laws and highlights key players and events. Click here for the full story.

Open Secrets

The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation’s premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government. In short, the Center’s mission is to:

  • Inform citizens about how money in politics affects their lives
  • Empower voters and activists by providing unbiased information
  • Advocate for a transparent and responsive government

Click here for more information.

Follow the Money

The National Institute on Money in State Politics is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization revealing the influence of campaign money on state-level elections and public policy in all 50 states. They encourage transparency and promote independent investigation of state-level campaign contributions by journalists, academic researchers, public-interest groups, government agencies, policymakers, students and the public at large. Click here for more information.

Map Light

MapLight is a nonpartisan research organization that reveals money’s influence on politics in the U.S. Congress and in the California and Wisconsin Legislatures. They provide journalists and citizens with transparency tools that connect data on campaign contributions, politicians, legislative votes, industries, companies, and more to show patterns of influence never before possible to see. These tools allow users to gain unique insights into how campaign contributions affect policy so they can draw their own conclusions about how money influences our political system. Click here for more information.

The Sunlight Foundation

The Sunlight Foundation is a nonpartisan nonprofit founded in 2006 that uses the power of the Internet to catalyze greater government openness and transparency. Click here for more information.

Political Moneyline

Political Moneyline is the leading source of comprehensive, timely and objective campaign finance and lobbying information. Political Moneyline helps you analyze the flow of money through the political system by providing campaign donation and expenditure data from to the 1979-80 election cycle through the most recent filings. Click here for more information.

The Federal Election Commission

In 1975, Congress created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) – the statute that governs the financing of federal elections. The duties of the FEC, which is an independent regulatory agency, are to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of presidential elections. Click here for more information.

Voting Rights

Winning the Vote: A History of Voting Rights

From the revolution to women’s suffrage, from the Civil Rights movement to the unfinished business of guaranteeing the right to vote, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History provides an overview of voting rights in the United States along with interactive online resources. Read the essay here.

Online Voter Registration – Powered by Rock the Vote

Rock the Vote’s Online Voter Registration (OVR) platform provides a simple solution for modern voter registration. Since its inception, the platform has registered over six million new voters. In 2012, Rock the Vote began offering its white label tool and API to partners. It has been a trusted resource for more than a decade, with a proven track record of accessibility, security and partner support. Find out more here.

The Brennan Center For Justice

Voting is the foundation of our democracy. The Brennan Center is at the center of the fight to preserve and expand the right to vote for every eligible citizen. Through practical policy proposals, litigation, advocacy, and communications, the Brennan Center works to ensure that voting is free, fair, and accessible for all Americans. The Center’s signature proposal, automatic voter registration, would save money, increase accuracy and participation — and add an additional 50 million voters to the rolls permanently. Click here to read more.

Demos

Demos is a public policy organization working for an America where we all have an equal say in our democracy and an equal chance in our economy. Read the publications here.

Save Our Elections

Featuring John Ennis’s Documentary films on voting rights and money in politics, this site also includes a great overview of the problem, policy solutions, and online resources. Read more on election issues here.

Greg Palast – Investigative Reporter
Palast’s reporting focuses on voter suppression and abuses by governments, corporations, politicians, and lobbyists. Read about Greg Palast’s work here.

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