By ADELAIDE JACOBSON
Los Alamos

Sept. 17, 2020, two hundred and thirty-three years after the adoption of the United States’ Constitution, Americans will observe Constitution and Citizenship Day.

During those 233 years we have had twenty-seven amendments to our Constitution. As a representative democracy we are in need of another. We need an amendment which will reduce the influence of money in our elections.

This ‘election season’ the influence of political spending continues to be very pronounced. Sources of dark money cannot be traced. Political action committees, whether receiving their funds from in-state individuals and corporations or out-of-state entities, operate independently of candidates. Special interests with seemingly unlimited wealth make media purchases supporting and opposing candidates.

If we are to have a democracy where each individual’s vote is equal to another’s, the sources of money in our elections have to be transparent and must be reduced.

Many organizations are working toward reform of our election financing, among them American Promise, a national cross-partisan nonprofit with a New Mexico chapter, Common Cause, and RepresentUs-New Mexico.

Passage of legislation to curb the influence of money in federal elections and clarify that constitutional rights are only for people, not corporations, is essential.

If you, like me, are dismayed with the amount and influence of money in our elections please contact your local, state, and national representatives and tell them that you support campaign finance reform through a Constitutional amendment and also through legislation at the county, state, and federal level.