FAQs

The Maine Initiative

Voters in Maine will decide on November 5th, 2024 whether to pass the most important money-in-politics ballot initiative in decades. It would cap donations to SuperPACs — one of the most effective ways for billionaires to buy elections — and in doing so will set up a legal challenge that could end SuperPACs across the country. We want you to make a video explaining this initiative — and we will help you do so!

The Specifics

The initiative, if passed, would impose a $5,000 limit on groups that spend independently on political campaigns — otherwise known as SuperPACs — in Maine.

Is that legal?

The Supreme Court has never ruled on whether contributions to SuperPACs can be limited. If the Maine initiative passes, it will likely be litigated all the way to the Supreme Court, and we strongly believe that the United States Supreme Court will uphold Maine’s law, and thus allow for the ending of SuperPACs across the country. 

The legal argument backing the initiative is based on work by Harvard Law Professor (emeritus) Larry Tribe and Chicago Law Professor (emeritus) and (former) Maine resident, Al Alschuler. You can find it here. 

For more information about the legal argument, you can listen to this episode of our Podcast, Another Way. 

Watch these videos to learn more:

How To Break A Democracy

So You Want To Bribe A Democracy

A Curious Decision

How Can I Learn More?

We’ve devoted a full season of our podcast Another Way to tell the story of the Maine Initiative to End Superpacs. You can listen to it here. 

You can also check out the following articles written about the initiative:

Question 1 would cap contributions to certain political action committees

Or, you can visit the campaign website, here.