(The Center Square) – Election integrity advocates are applauding a Nebraska measure that will stop foreign funding of ballot issue campaigns and ensure that elections are decided by American citizens alone.
Executive director of Honest Elections Project Action Jason Snead told The Center Square that “ballot measures are critical elections that can remake constitutions, redefine our rights, and rewrite the rules of our elections.”
“No foreign billionaire or foreign-funded group should be able to interfere in decisions as essential as this, and ballot measures should never be a Trojan Horse for foreign influence,” Snead said.
Snead emphasized the fact that “voters deserve to know that elections are free of foreign interference.”
The bill – LB 927 – was passed Friday by the Nebraska legislature and Wednesday reached Gov. Jim Pillen’s desk for a signature.
Snead said the bill “strengthens state law to keep foreign money out of Nebraska ballot measure campaigns and ensure that third-party groups like the left-wing Sixteen Thirty Fund cannot launder foreign money into the process.”
“Nebraska is the tenth state in just two years to pass a strong ban to ensure that all elections are decided by American citizens and the voters of Nebraska,” Snead said.
When Pillen’s office was reached for comment, his media relations team referred The Center Square to a media advisory on the leader’s signing of the bill.
Executive director of Americans for Public Trust Caitlin Sutherland told The Center Square that “it is critical Americans have confidence our politics and lawmaking are free from foreign influence.”
“Yet, for far too long, foreign nationals like Hansjörg Wyss have exploited a loophole that has allowed them to funnel foreign dark money into Nebraska ballot issue campaigns,” Sutherland said.
“We applaud Governor Pillen and the Nebraska Legislature for taking steps to fully close this loophole and strengthen penalties for lawbreakers who might still try to funnel foreign money into the state,” Sutherland said.
“By enacting this comprehensive ban on foreign funding of ballot issues, Nebraska is setting a strong example for other states on how to safeguard their political process from foreign influence,” Sutherland said.
The Center Square previously reported on Missouri’s legislation that likewise banned foreign funding of ballot issue campaigns.
Prior to this legislation in the Show-Me State, foreign backing equal to $4.5 million pushed through the Amendment 3 campaign via the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which resulted in abortion being “enshrined” into Missouri’s constitution, The Center Square reported.
