Financial Disclosure in Michigan’s Elections – Ending Dark/Secret Money

One of the fastest growing types of election money is Dark/Secret Money. We are currently preparing a 2026 ballot measure to require disclosure of all Dark/Secret Money in our elections.

Things to Know About Dark/Secret Money in our elections.

We prefer to call this election money Secret Money because its sources are kept secret from the voters – only the voters. In reality, all of the election-related groups know where the secret money comes from. Just the voters are kept in the dark.

So how are these donations made secret? This is accomplished by placing the donation into an organization that is legally allowed to withhold the identity of their donors – typically 501c4s, 5s, and 6s non-profit groups.

Non-profit’s have been granted the right of secrecy to protect their donors right to gather together privately and advocate for their cause – an important 1st amendment right. But extending that right to their election money/activity is clearly a violation (yet currently legal) of the voter’s foundational right to cast an informed vote.

Donors are told by candidate campaigns where to donate (typically candidate-supporting non-profit groups) if they wish their donations to be kept secret.

Another motive to donate to these dark groups is the fact that there are no limits to how much money an individual can give to these groups. So, big donors use these groups to avoid the strict donation limits set on the candidate’s campaign fund.

This also creates a major loss of information for the voters. The sources of money that supports a candidate can tell a voter a lot about the candidates who are seeking their vote, and the likely actions that they will take once in office. Disguising information on sources of funding is seriously impairing of a voter’s ability to be informed and to be able to select the candidate who will best represent him or her.

Where does this dark/secret money go?

Some of these non-profit private groups finance campaign messages (ads on tv, on the internet, flyers in your mailbox, etc.) on their own.

However, much more frequently these days, they will make large transfers to another organization (usually a Super Pac) in a single bundle – never publicly identifying who were the original donors of that money.

This is, plain and simple, money laundering!  While illegal in business affairs, is distressingly perfectly legal in our politics!

This guarantees that voters will never know who is really financing those ads that we are bombarded with in the waning weeks of an election campaign.

Another big problem with this kind of political money is that it heavily finances dishonest, inflammatory messages, and engages in all kinds of disruptive activity. This consequence has clearly been spilling into the subsequent activity in the congress in Washington and our legislature in Lansing.

Fortunately, all of the above are matters that can be significantly addressed by mandatory election financial disclosure at the state level – right here in Michigan.

So, what have we been doing to secure election financial disclosure?

We have been lobbying the last few legislative sessions to pass campaign finance reform and transparency laws in Michigan. Despite overwhelming support among legislators, moneyed interests thwarted this reform effort.

Consequently, we have concluded that the only way to enact these reforms is by having the voters themselves pass a ballot initiative enshrining the needed disclosure reforms in our state Constitution.

That ballot measure is now under development and our schedule for approval by the State Board of Canvassers is mid-summer 2025. You can follow our progress by subscribing to our newsletter or you can become a volunteer in our ballot measure campaign.

Learn More About the Importance of This Program

What Are Our Legislative Concepts for Ending Secret Money in Michigan’s Elections?

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