Arizona’s Voter’s Right to Know Act, which was passed in 2022 to combat corrupt elections and strengthen the state’s disclosure rules, should be upheld, according to an amicus brief CREW submitted. This Act aims to uphold the promise in Citizens United of transparency into the sources of spending on elections.

CREW’s amicus brief highlights the pervasive influence of dark money and its negative impact. Billions in dark money have flooded elections since Citizens United. In the last federal election cycle alone, nearly $2 billion in dark money was spent without disclosure. This sum nearly doubled the $1 billion in dark money spent in the 2020 federal election cycle, following the trend of a consistent increase since Citizens United promised transparency into this type of spending.

Dark money is not confined to federal elections. In fact, there have been cases of millions in undisclosed funding in local and state elections in Arizona. In notable corruption cases around the country, from former U.S. Senator Robert Menendez to former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others, there is significant evidence that public officials have agreed to quid-pro-quos involving ostensibly independent, but reliably supportive, political spending. This undermines the integrity of our elections by misaligning the priorities and allegiances of public officials.

Various attempts at tracing dark money funding to the original source have proven inadequate. Voluntary transparency requirements, like those found in federal law, are easily skirted as they rely on donors and recipients honestly reporting the purpose of the transaction, which frequently doesn’t happen, allowing dark money sources to remain unknown. 

The Supreme Court has acknowledged voters’ right to know the identity of anyone that may be bribing or influencing officials, whether from direct contributions or independent electioneering. To apply this theory in practice, the flow of money must be traced through clear and strong requirements, while ensuring privacy for those not funding election spending. The Voter’s Right to Know Act does precisely this, and its existence is necessary to provide voters the transparency promised in Citizens United. 

Read the amicus brief here.

Photo by Kevin Bondelli under a Creative Commons license.

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