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Uptown Progressives is is an open and inclusive community organized to protect the democratic process, promote social justice, and engage citizens in encouraging principled leadership.

 

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Committees

Election Protection and Reform Committee

Issues

Corporate Accountability
Education
Energy
Environment/Green Living
Health Care
Labor
Racism and Discrimination
U.S. Military and Foreign Policy
Women's Reproductive Health

Coalition

Uptown Progressives is a member organization in the Coalition of Democratic and Progressive Organizations.

Election Protection/Reform Committee:

The purpose of the Election Protection/Reform Committee is to monitor the election process in Central Ohio , identifying problems or potential problems, and offering solutions to such problems. The committee will review recent election procedures to focus on problems and solutions already suggested, and to monitor the progress being made to solve those problems.

The Election Protection/Reform Committee is currently active in the Reform Ohio Now (RON) initiative to place three election-reform amendments to the Ohio Constitution on the ballot in November (details follow). The committee is actively working to gather the target 450,000 signatures by August 4, 2005 . To get involved in this effort email up@uptownprogressives.com.

More info on Reform Ohio Now (RON): Three Constitutional Amendments

• Campaign Finance Reform: In December, 2004, the Ohio legislature increased the amount that large donors can give to politicians from $2,500 to $10,000 and weakened Ohio ’s century-old ban on corporate contributions. This initiative would lower contribution limits to $1,000 per election cycle for legislative candidates and $2,000 per cycle for statewide candidates, tighten the ban on corporate contributions, and prevent fat cats from skirting the limits by making contributions through their children.
• Independent Redistricting: Most elections in Ohio are not competitive because politicians conspire in drawing districts that are handpicked to ensure that either a Republican or a Democrat wins in a landslide. This initiative would take the redistricting process out of the hands of partisan incumbents and put this responsibility into a non-partisan commission whose members could not be lobbyists, former politicians, or party leaders.
• Election Reform: Ohio elections are currently administered by the Secretary of State, who is elected in a partisan election. Previous Secretaries of State have chaired the campaigns of presidential candidates and taken other actions that draw into question their impartiality in administering elections. This initiative would create a non-partisan elections board to administer Ohio elections, ensuring that voters will have confidence in election outcomes.

Visit: reformohionow.org to see the text of the amendments.

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