BUTTE — Volunteers across Montana, including in Butte, are gathering signatures for Initiative 194, also known as the Montana Plan, a measure supporters say would remove undisclosed corporate spending from Montana elections.
Dan Roberts, a Butte voter, said outside-money interests have an outsized influence on elections.
"They've got their own agenda. They want somebody in there so they're going to try to buy their way in there for them and that's just not fair for the normal person," Roberts said.
WATCH: Montana volunteers collect signatures to ban dark money from state elections with I-194
Lisa Ferino, a volunteer collecting signatures for the Transparent Election Initiative, said the problem traces back more than a decade.
"Ever since the Citizens United 2010 Supreme Court ruling, there has been a flood of secret, anonymous donations to campaigns," Ferino said.
Ferino said dark money donations come from corporations and nonprofits that funnel money into political action committees, or super PACs, which produce radio, television, and mailer ads to support chosen candidates and attack opposing candidates.
"Basically, this will stop the amount of just corporate money that is flooding our elections with donations in Montana from all over the country. The amount of donations has gone up 28 times since 2008, and we just feel like it's time for that to stop," Ferino said.
Ferino said dark money is a problem for both Republican and Democratic candidates. After signing in support of the initiative, Roberts said special interests are damaging the state and the nation because politicians on both sides struggle to find common ground.
"The country is not going along very well right now. But a lot of people are discouraged," Roberts said.
Roberts said passing a measure like I-194 would level the playing field for everyday candidates.
"Oh yeah, it would give 'em more chance, I think, you know? They don't have to compete against all that money. Cause when you're putting all that money in there it's just not fair. A lot of people can't raise that kind of money. You know, it should be fair for everybody," Roberts said.
Free public screenings of Dark Money, a Montana-made documentary that has appeared on PBS and screened at Sundance and the Big Sky Film Festival, are scheduled for May 6 at the Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture in Bozeman and May 7 at the Covellite Theater in Butte.
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