Maine Citizens For Clean Elections

Overview

Maine Citizens For Clean Elections is a left-of-center organization that works on campaign finance and other election related issues in Maine. It is a supporter of laws restricting freedom of speech through campaign finance laws. It is also an advocate of taxpayer-funded political campaigns, which require taxpayers to fund the political campaigns of candidates with whom they may disagree. ¹

The organization was founded in 1995 to promote a ballot initiative called the Maine Clean Election Act. The MCEA proposed a system of taxpayer-funded elections that would give taxpayer dollars to political candidates that did not take money from certain entities. The MCEA was passed in 1996 and implemented in 2000. ¹

In addition to supporting taxpayer-funded elections, the group is also an advocate of changing the way Americans vote for president. In 2019, it supported legislation that would have permitted the state to join the National Popular Vote compact, under which the state would award its electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. ²

The organization is also a supporter of ranked-choice voting. In 2016, Maine voters approved an initiative that enacted ranked choice voting in the state. Ranked choice voting was enacted after a Republican governor was elected twice with less than 50% of the vote. ³

In 2021, the organization supported the For the People Act on the federal level. The legislation would allow for a federal takeover of election procedures and more restrictions on freedom of speech through campaign finance restrictions. ⁴

Affiliation With Other Organizations

Maine Citizens For Clean Elections often works with the League of Women Voters of Maine and the two organizations are the main collaborators behind Democracy Maine. Democracy Maine is an organization that advocates for ranked choice voting, restrictions on political speech through campaign finance laws, and taxpayer funded political campaigns in Maine. ⁵  Maine Citizens For Clean Elections and League of Women Voters of Maine share an executive director. ⁶

The organization has a youth affiliate called Maine Students Vote. ⁶

Leadership

The executive director of both Maine Citizens for Clean Elections and the League of Women Voters of Maine is Anna Keller. Keller was appointed joint executive director of both organizations in 2017. Keller has been with the organization since 2014. ⁶

Allyson Gardner is the director of Maine Students Vote. ⁶

Jill Ward is the president of both Maine Citizens for Clean Elections and the League of Women Voters of Maine. She has been involved with MCCE since 2008. She previously worked with the left-of-center organizations Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and Children’s Defense Fund. ⁷

Finances

According to its 2019 tax returns, Maine Citizens for Clean Elections had revenue of $575.224 and expenses of $417,806. It had $314,517 worth of assets. ⁸

In 2018, MCCE received $660,000 from the William & Flora Hewitt Foundation. ⁹