EqualCitizens.US (Equal Citizens) is an advocacy branch of the left-of-center nonprofit Equal Citizens Foundation. ¹ It supports the political activism of its founder Lawrence Lessig, who campaigned on restricting campaign speech during his run for the Democratic nomination during the 2016 election. ²

Equal Citizens campaigns to weaken voter integrity and restrict campaign speech using campaign finance regulation. ³ It has supported federal legislation backed by Democrats to increase federal control over election administration. ⁴ It has also campaigned against existing policy such as the filibuster rule that sets a supermajority threshold to advance to Senate passage of federal legislation. ⁵

Background

EqualCitizens.US is the 501(c)(4) advocacy branch of the Equal Citizens Foundation. ⁶ It advocates for left-of-center election policy and for restricting donations to political campaigns. ⁷ The Equal Citizens Foundation advocates for policy that weakens voter integrity, limits contributions to political campaigns, and undermines the electoral college’s role in U.S. elections. ⁸

Equal Citizens and the Equal Citizens Foundation shares the same website and the donations made through their website states that it all goes to the Equal Citizens Foundation. ^{9 10} Both organizations share board members, although Equal Citizens Foundation has more members, and between 2017 and 2019, the only grants Equal Citizens had was given to the Equal Citizens Foundation. ^{11 1213}

Campaigns

EqualCitizens.US has a “Bust the Filibuster” campaign, advocating to eliminate the filibuster for Democratic-backed election administration legislation. ¹⁴ Equal Citizens has argued that the filibuster needs to be eliminated because Democratic and liberal legislation that has failed to pass due to it. Additionally, it states that other methods to eliminate the effects of the filibuster should be entertained, such as lowering the vote threshold for “cloture” to break a filibuster. ¹⁵

Equal Citizens campaigned in support of the For the People Act, including an article series titled “Dispatches on the For the People Act.” The series goes supported instituting same day voter registration, eliminating voter ID requirements, and expanding mail-in voting, highlighting how it would weaken voter integrity and change campaign finance laws. ¹⁶

Equal Citizens has a ‘’Fix the College” project that advocates for policy that protects electors from state governments imposing punishments for voting against their pledge. ¹⁷ Equal Citizens president Lawrence Lessig argues that electors are political agents controlled by the state legislature and that ideas for reforming the electoral college are needed. ¹⁸

People

Lawrence “Larry” Lessig is the founder and president of EqualCitizens.US. Lessig is a political activist, Harvard professor, and lawyer. In 2016, he attempted to gain the Democratic nomination for President of the United States with a platform of restricting campaign speech. ¹⁹

Finances

EqualCitizens.US reported revenues of $472,236 in 2017, $137,193 in 2018, and $22,037 in 2019. ²⁰ Between 2017 and 2019, Equal Citizens only reported making contributions in 2018, in the amount of $202,905. ²¹

1. “About” Equal Citizens. https://equalcitizens.us/about-equal-citizens/
2. Balcerzak, Ashley. “Larry Lessig Takes His Plan to Congress.” OpenSecrets News, September 23, 2016. https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/09/larry-lessig-takes-his-plan-to-congress/.
3. “EqualCitizens.US: EqualCitizens.US.” The Action Network. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://actionnetwork.org/groups/equalcitizens.
4. Watson, Michael. “How Government Worker Unions Manipulate Municipal Elections.” The Daily Signal, November 9, 2021. https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/11/05/how-government-worker-unions-manipulate-municipal-elections/.
5. Li, Evelyn. “The Case against the Filibuster.” Medium. Equal Citizens, July 31, 2020. https://medium.com/equal-citizens/the-case-against-the-filibuster-a61016330ac6.
6. “Legal Materials.” Equal Citizens. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://equalcitizens.us/legal-materials/.
7. “EqualCitizens.US: EqualCitizens.US.” The Action Network. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://actionnetwork.org/groups/equalcitizens.
8.  “About” Equal Citizens. https://equalcitizens.us/about-equal-citizens/
9. Donate to Equal Citizens.” Equal Citizens. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://equalcitizens.us/donate-to-ec/.
10. “About” Equal Citizens. https://equalcitizens.us/about-equal-citizens/
11. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). EqualCitizens US. 2019. Part VII, Column A.
12. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Equal Citizens Foundation. 2019. Part VII, Column A.
13. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). EqualCitizens US. 2018. Section I.
14. “Bust the Filibuster.” Equal Citizens. Accessed January 8, 2022. https://equalcitizens.us/bust-the-filibuster/.
15. Li, Evelyn. “The Case against the Filibuster.” Medium. Equal Citizens, July 31, 2020. https://medium.com/equal-citizens/the-case-against-the-filibuster-a61016330ac6.
16. EqualCitizens.US. “Dispatch on the for the People Act #5: Same Day Registration, Early Voting, and the ‘Catastrophic’…” Medium. Equal Citizens, March 11, 2021. https://medium.com/equal-citizens/dispatch-on-the-for-the-people-act-5-same-day-registration-early-voting-and-the-catastrophic-7e6a8cee7294.
17. “Electors Freedom.” Equal Citizens. Accessed January 9, 2022. https://equalcitizens.us/electors-freedom/.
18. Lessig, Lawrence. “Our New Campaign to Fix the Electoral College.” Medium. Equal Citizens, July 6, 2020. https://medium.com/equal-citizens/our-new-campaign-to-fix-the-electoral-college-a6a6ebdae691.
19. Balcerzak, Ashley. “Larry Lessig Takes His Plan to Congress.” OpenSecrets News, September 23, 2016. https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/09/larry-lessig-takes-his-plan-to-congress/.
20. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). EqualCitizens US. 2017-2019. Part I, Line 8.
21. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). EqualCitizens US. 2018. Section I.