LETTERS: Stop dark money interference

To the editor:

Last year, I was part of a team that successfully collected over 80,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot to protect Maine elections from big, dark money interference from corporate and foreign government entities.

Countries like Qatar, Canada, China and Russia contribute freely to our politics to curry favor, flood the airwaves, get an edge, and profit. They have unlimited resources to tie up cases in court and pass policies that benefit their bottom line. They have the audacity to pose as magnanimous entities packaging pretty lies under the guise of free speech. They have unlimited resources to thwart the will of the people, and keep pushing their agendas until they achieve their intended outcome. Nothing they do centers Maine or the people who live here. Their motives are purely profit and power over people, and their money shouldn’t be purchasing policies.

We don’t have time to lose on this issue, and we shouldn’t be waiting for the ballot. Those of us who volunteer for political causes have seen people’s confidence in our political system plummet in direct correlation to the outrageous amounts entities spend to manipulate and deceive the people. The Legislature has a chance right now to pass this widely supported, bi-partisan bill outright, and get big money out of politics. I urge them to do so. Getting monied influences out of politics is fundamental to achieving the changes that myself or any of us seek, and we’d like to get to work.

Kelly Merrill