Poll shows support for Montana-based solution to Citizens United

Darrell Ehrlick

A new poll released Tuesday shows Montanans, and Americans in general, agree that political spending, including dark money in politics, has a corrosive effect on government, and lessens the trust in government.

The poll comes as a Montana group proposes a different way to end dark money in political advertising that resulted from the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. Currently, a group, Transparent Election Initiative, is in the process of trying to float a constitutional amendment that would eliminate corporate and dark spending in politics by changing state law.

The poll, commissioned by Issue One and conducted by YouGov, showed two key findings: First, citizens broadly believe that dark money groups as well as corporate spending and money from wealthy donors “creates the appearance of corruption and reduces trust in government.” Secondly, voters seem to support changing the system by disallowing so much money in the races.

“This shows the frustration with politics and the frustration with both parties is universal,” said Liana Keesing, the policy lead of Issue One, a national organization dedicating to reducing the money in politics, and advocating reform.

“Money in politics is no longer a partisan issue. And, it shows that when voters see a path to change, they rally around it,” she said, speaking in particular of Montana’s attempt to amend the constitution by Transparent Election Initiative. “One of the most important things we can provide is transferring apathy into action.”

Montana’s proposed ballot measure would challenge the money spent in elections by attacking the Citizens United ruling in a different way. Individual states are allowed to control the operation of corporations and businesses through their charters. Montana’s new proposal would curb the power granted through the state charter system, limiting their ability to spend on political campaigns and candidates.

Though organizer Jeff Mangan said Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has declared the initiative doesn’t pass state constitutional muster, he said his group expected that, and is prepared to take the fight to the state’s Supreme Court, which will have ultimate say on whether the proposal can get on the ballot if enough signatures are gathered.

The poll found that 79% of Americans agreed large independent expenditures, which often get labeled as “dark money” because of an inability to track where the money originates, give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. The polling included 84% of Democrats, 74% of Republicans and 79% of independents.

Nearly the same numbers also agree large wealthy donations are causing the public to lose faith in democracy, according to the poll.

“The findings fly in the face of two of the key assumptions that the U.S. Supreme Court made 15 years ago in Citizens United, namely that independent expenditures do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption, and secondly, that the appearance of influence or access would not cause the electorate to lose faith in democracy. These perceptions of corruption are corrosive to the foundation of our democracy,” said Issue One Senior Research Director Michael Beckel. “Our political system cannot function if the public assumes the government is for sale to the highest bidder.”

At a press conference announcing the polling results, advocates included Mangan, a former Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, who compared current election spending to an “arms race” where there’s more pressure to outspend and out-fundraise opponents.

The polling also shows that Montanans are generally supportive of the ballot measure with 3-in-4 saying they would amend state law to curb corporations and political spending by charter. Seventy-four percent of Montanans agreed, which includes 84% of Democrats, 69% of Republicans and 64% of independents.

Polling done through YouGov also shows that while campaign and dark-money spending on elections is not the only cause of frustration, it still appears as a concern along with cost of living, inflation, healthcare and the availability of jobs.

Montana’s proposal would prohibit corporations from spending money on political campaigns.

“It would just make Citizens United irrelevant,” Mangan said.

The poll also asked residents of other states whether they’d support such a measure in their state. Polling showed nearly the same results with 72% of Americans supporting the idea, including 81% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans and 60% of independents.

Only 13% of those polled by the group said that unlimited spending by people and organizations is acceptable and makes American democracy stronger. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed also said that they disagreed with the Citizens United Decision, which included more than half of Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

The national poll had a margin of error of +/- 3.3% and surveyed 1,036 voters from Oct. 7-15.

Some have suggested to the pollsters the issue of dark money in politics is related to other political topics, like housing.

“There is a housing crisis that has been exacerbated by wealthy individuals and corporations. They have a negative influence on the state,” said Theodore Landsman, a senior political analyst at YouGov, who studied Montana’s responses.

John Ray, Senior Director of Polling at YouGov, said that almost every issue has a significant partisan gap, but the idea of limiting or controlling money in politics crosses over party lines.

“Ordinary voters get how broken the system is. If politicians would take actions on these things, voters would reward them,” Beckel said.

Mangan stressed that although the issues and even solutions have varied, limiting the influence of money in politics is part of the state’s historical tradition, stretching back to 1912 when Montana voters demanded the “Corrupt Practices Act” which gave citizens more political power even at a time of Copper Kings and a notoriously weak first state constitution.

“There’s a consistency there because it treats everyone the same,” Mangan said. “No gimmicks, no loopholes.”