The democratic system is intended to give everyone a voice in the process. Unfortunately, a series of Supreme Court decisions have allowed wealthy donors and special interests to spend millions of dollars—often without disclosure—in an effort to drown out the voices of most Americans.  As political campaign costs continue to skyrocket, many Members of Congress feel pressured to spend too much time raising money instead of legislating and serving the needs of all of their constituents.  Fixing the broken U.S. campaign finance system and preventing wealthy, special interests from dominating politics must be a top priority.  Senator Durbin’s Fair Elections Now Act would restore public confidence in the election process by establishing a small donor, public financing system for Senate campaigns.

In addition to the deluge of political spending in recent years, the right to vote has been under assault.  After the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in the divided 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, several state legislatures pushed through discriminatory and onerous restrictions on voting, including cuts to early voting and the implementation of strict voter identification laws.  Senator Durbin supports protecting and preserving the fundamental right to vote by fighting against voter suppression and working to restore the Voting Rights Act. Senator Durbin also supports ensuring that U.S. elections are secure against cyberattacks and other malicious interference efforts from foreign adversaries by providing the necessary federal resources and assistance to state and local election officials to help protect U.S. elections.