HomeMy WebLinkAboutExplanatory Statement EXPLANATORY STATEMENT FOR COUNTY VOTERS' PAMPHLET
NAME OF PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTENT: Dave Lohman, City Attorney, City of Ashland, Oregon.
NAME OF ORGANIZATION PERSON REPRESENTS, IF ANY: City of Ashland, Oregon
BALLOT TITLE CAPTION: Question on constitutional definition of"persons" and campaign spending limits
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The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that legislatively-created entities, such as corporations, limited liability
companies, and unions,have the right to make unlimited political contributions because the Court determined that
legislatively-created entities are persons with the same constitutional rights as human beings and that political
contributions by any person are a form of expression highly protected by the First Amendment from governmental
restrictions.
A "yes" vote on the advisory question would tell Congress to change the federal Constitution so that corporations,
unions, and other legislatively-created entities would not be equated with persons regarding constitutional rights.
Under such a constitutional.amendment,these types of entities would retain privileges granted legislatively by local,
state,and federal governments,but would not have the same constitutional rights granted to human beings. Such a
constitutional amendment would make it possible for Congress and state legislatures to enact limitations on
campaign contributions and spending and require public disclosure of campaign contributions.
A "no" vote would not instruct Congress to change the federal Constitution as to the status of legislatively-created
entities or the inability to legislatively set campaign finance limitations and disclosure requirements.
The U.S. Congress cannot modify a U.S. Supreme Court decision on constitutional rights through legislation,but
can initiate the process of amending the U.S. Constitution in a way that would overturn an earlier Court decision or
make it no longer applicable. If the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate approve a proposed
constitutional amendment by a two-thirds vote, and 38 states then ratify it by legislative approvals or state
conventions, it would become part of the Constitution. The U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times so far;
seven of those amendments overturned Supreme Court decisions.
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SINATURE OF PE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF THE EXPLANATORY STATEMENT DATE
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