PETITION:

Declaration of Independence from Money in Elections (D.I.M.E.) Amendment

WHEREAS, the maintenance of free and fair political discourse and elections is of paramount importance to the well-being and harmony of a democratic nation, and

WHEREAS, the influence of excessive amounts of money from special interests has significantly diminished the ability of the People to have their voices heard, and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States has interpreted the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in such a way as to drastically limit the ability of the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch to provide reasonable constraints over special interests’ excessive and undemocratic influence in the electoral process, and

WHEREAS, given that the right of the People to petition their government for redress of grievances is fundamental to all democracies, and enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America is submitted by the People for consideration and approval by the Congress of the United States, and shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by conventions of three-fourths of the several States:

ARTICLE-

Section 1: No provision of the Constitution shall be construed to prohibit restriction of contributions to candidates for nomination to, or for election to any public office, or the amount of funds that may be spent in support of, or in opposition to such candidates, or any other provisions contained within this article.

Section 2: Only individual citizens legally eligible to vote within the geographic boundaries to which an elective public office applies shall be eligible to contribute to any candidate’s campaign for nomination for election to, or for election to, said public office.

Section 3: The maximum any individual citizen shall be eligible to contribute to any specific candidate’s campaign for nomination for election to, or for election to, any public office, including the candidate, shall not exceed an amount calculated to be five percent of the Median Annual Average Income for Full-Time Workers, as determined and published annually by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce.

Section 4: Beginning with the opening of the legal registration process for candidates for nomination for election to, or for election to any public office, and ending with the final certification of the completed vote count, only properly registered candidates for nomination for election to, or for election to any public office may purchase and distribute campaign materials or advertising in support of, or in opposition to any candidate for the office for which they are campaigning, regardless of the medium utilized. Challenges to establish whether or not any form of written or electronic communication constitutes a violation of this section shall be submitted to a “citizens’ independent election commission” which shall be established by each State. Said commissions shall be composed of politically neutral citizens who are not active in partisan politics, who will serve without compensation, and who will be charged to rule in a non-partisan manner based solely on the facts presented.

Section 5: Upon legal registration of any individual’s candidacy for public office, said individual shall immediately release for public inspection complete copies of the candidate’s most recent five concurrent federal income tax returns, redacting only such personal identification information as shall be necessary to protect the candidate from fraudulent or other criminal actions.

Section 6: Upon completion of the term of office of any elected public official, said official is prohibited from engaging in lobbying activities for which remuneration is received for a period of five years.

Section 7: Ratification of this article shall be by State conventions, which shall be composed of fifteen delegates, who shall be elected from the State at-large. Candidates for the office of delegate to the convention shall be qualified electors of the State. Nominations shall be by petition, signed by not less than one thousand qualified electors of the state, and shall contain a clearly discernable statement by the candidate to the effect that he or she favors ratification, or opposes ratification. The only nomination petitions which shall be effective shall be those of the fifteen nominees favoring ratification who first filed valid petitions with the secretary of state, and those of the first fifteen nominees opposing ratification, whose valid petitions were first filed with the secretary of state.

The election shall be by ballot, which shall contain a statement of the substance of this article, appropriate instructions to the voters, and perpendicular columns of equal width, headed respectively in plain type, “favors ratification” and “opposes ratification.” In the column headed “favors ratification” shall be placed the names of the candidates who favor ratification. In the column headed “opposes ratification” shall be placed the names of the candidates who oppose ratification. The voter shall indicate his or her choice by making a mark in the preferred space. The ballot shall be so arranged that the voter may, by making a single selection, vote for the entire group of nominees whose names are comprised in either column. The fifteen candidates who receive the highest number of votes shall comprise the delegates to the convention. Delegates elected under a nomination petition as favoring or opposing ratification shall vote at the convention in accordance with that nomination petition statement. Intentional failure to do so shall cause the invalidation of the delegate’s vote, and subject the delegate to prosecution under the State’s criminal statutes for voter fraud.

The election shall be held on the fourth day of July following submission of this article to the States by Congress, unless received after the first day of March, in which case the election shall be held on the fourth day of July, in the succeeding year, and shall otherwise be subject to such general election rules as may be in force in each State at that time.

Elected delegates in each State shall meet at their respective capitols, on the thirty first day of July, succeeding the election, at ten o’clock a.m., and shall thereupon constitute a convention to consider and vote upon the question of whether or not this article shall be ratified as an amendment to the Constitution. The convention shall be the judge of the election and qualifications of its members, and shall elect its president, secretary and other officers, and adopt rules. The convention shall keep a journal of its proceedings in which shall be recorded the vote of each delegate on the question of ratification of this article. Upon final adjournment, the journal shall be filed with the State’s secretary of state. If the convention agrees by vote of a majority of the total number of delegates to ratification of this article, a certificate to that effect shall be executed by the president and secretary of the convention, and transmitted to the State’s secretary of state, who shall transmit the certificate under his or her hand and the great seal of the State to the Secretary of State of the United States.

Section 8: Nothing in this article shall be construed to grant Congress or the States the power to abridge the freedom of the press.

Section 9: Congress and the States shall have power to implement and enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 10: This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in three-fourths of the several States, as provided in this article, and in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this amendment is humbly submitted by the (Spelled Out Total) XXX,XXX,XXX legally eligible voters of these United States, whose names are affixed and attached hereto.

SUBMITTED THIS ___ day of ___________, 20__, in Washington, D.C.