Provocate.org

Concerned citizens, community leaders and activists get together to examine current political campaign funding and develop more democratic alternatives to the current system of campaign finance.

When: Saturday September 29 8:30am to 4:00pm
Where: University of Indianapolis Schwitzer Student Center 1400 E. Hanna Avenue

A gathering of concerned citizens, community leaders and activists to examine current political campaign funding and work together to develop more democratic alternatives. The one-day event will include sessions and panels to:

• Discuss problems with the current campaign funding system
• Identify ways to reform the system through legislation for “clean elections”
• Learn how to find the sources for campaign donations
• Learn how to more effectively communicate with legislators

From NUVO:

Democracy NOT for Sale: Citizens’ Summit to Change Campaign Funding
Saturday, Sept. 29, University of Indianapolis

Tackling the roots of a corrupt system is the goal of the Indiana Clean Elections Coalition’s upcoming citizens’ summit. In light of an election system where typically the candidate with the most money wins, organizers seek to mobilize Hoosiers to remove private money from public elections.

Jack Miller, president of Indiana Alliance for Democracy, states the problem succinctly: “We have these bought and paid for politicians. The only way around it is for [the public] to fund their campaigns. We pay their salaries, so we ought to have some say in who gets elected.”

He notes that corporate control of political process is clearly linked to environmental destruction. “The more corruption there is,” he says, “the less democracy there is. And the dirtier the environment is.” Wresting the vote from corporations and putting it back into the people’s hands is critical to reversing the trend of global warming, he says.

Activists like Arizona Clean Elections director Eric Ehst and Doris “Granny D” Haddock, who walked across the country to bring attention to the need for clean elections, will bring their passion and expertise to the all-day event. A panel including Rep. David Orentlicher and Citizens Action Coalition’s Julia Vaughn will discuss ways to influence lawmakers.

The ultimate goal, Miller says, is to build a statewide coalition for reforming the election system through clean election laws. A networking reception will take place at Wheeler Arts Center the night before the conference.

Registration: www.indianacleanelections.org … Register by September 14th for only $20 (includes lunch)!

If this event sounds interesting, I hope you got a chance to hear the ACLU’s debate on Marion County elections.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 9:29 am and is filed under Events, Democracy, Domestic politicking, Law & justice, Business, Taking action. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.