“Ballot measures often have looser rules for political donations from foreign nationals than those that apply to candidates. One of Sixteen Thirty’s largest donors is Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, who donates lavishly to progressive causes in the U.S. This year the Legislature banned foreign nationals from contributing to Ohio ballot campaigns. But on the day Gov. Mike DeWine announced a special session to ban foreign donations, Sixteen Thirty dropped $6 million into the ballot campaign. That ban was blocked by a federal judge, but the Sixth Circuit let it take effect.”
Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, 10/17/2024
“By frontloading this foreign cash, it’s clear that Citizens Not Politicians was seeking to evade the law and lock in foreign influence before we could stop them. Meanwhile, left-wing lawyers are fighting to block our new law in court and leave Ohio exposed to unlimited foreign donations to campaigns like Issue 1.”
Sen. Rob McColley, Columbus Dispatch, 10/22/2024
“Not only is the substance of Issue 1 bad, but the ‘vote yes’ campaign is running ads funded predominantly by an infusion of foreign-backed cash — which is now illegal in Ohio,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust.”
National Review, 10/23/2024
Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, told the Washington Examiner that loopholes allowing foreign nationals to contribute to ballot campaigns set up constitutional amendments as “Trojan horses for foreign influence.”
“There is a very simple expectation on the part of the average voter that American elections are going to be decided by Americans,” Snead said. “These [ballot] campaigns are every bit as significant as candidate races since they have the ability to literally and directly make law or rewrite state constitutions.”
Washington Examiner, 10/15/2024
Issue 1
is bankrolled by a group funded by Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss. Foreign-funded Sixteen Thirty Fund is a D.C. dark money group that’s shelled out tens of millions of dollars supporting liberal ballot measures across the country.
Issue 1
repeals constitutional protections against gerrymandering. It requires you, the taxpayer, to pay for a commission of unelected bureaucrats, who are unaccountable to Ohioans, to gerrymander state and congressional district lines.
Issue 1
is nothing more than a liberal power grab. The backers of this measure want to redraw your congressional districts and rig the rules, while silencing you and replacing Ohio values with liberal nonsense.
