BYSIEWICZ: UPHOLD CLEAN ELECTIONS
Carter Kneeland
January 5, 2010
Contact: Tanya Meck
BYSIEWICZ: UPHOLD CLEAN ELECTIONS
Files Brief With Court of Appeals
(HARTFORD, CT)‐‐Calling on the courts to uphold Connecticut’s landmark clean elections law, Secretary
of the State and potential gubernatorial candidate Susan Bysiewicz today filed an amicus brief with the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, making her the first candidate to officially urge
the Court to reverse the District Court judgment that struck down the clean elections law in August
(
Green Party of Connecticut v. Garfield, 648 F.Supp.2d 298 (D. Conn. 2009).
Bysiewicz, a long‐time advocate for clean elections and strict campaign finance reforms, makes the case
that invalidating the Citizens Election Program (CEP) so close to the upcoming primary and general
elections will create an inequitable campaign environment for candidates who have participated in the
program in good faith. The CEP provides public campaign financing grants to qualified candidates for
state office provided that they adhere to strict fundraising and spending limits.
"The Citizens Election Program was a giant leap forward to combat the corruption that has marred
Connecticut politics in recent years," said Bysiewicz. “Now, we risk not just falling backward, but
creating harmful new disruptions to an election in‐process. For that reason, it is vital that the Court hear
from someone this law directly affects, an actual candidate who has pledged to participate in the Citizen
Election Program in 2010."
The CEP was developed and adopted as law following multiple state and municipal corruption scandals
that have marked Connecticut’s recent political history. In August 2009, a federal judge ruled the CEP
unconstitutional based on a lawsuit filed by Connecticut’s Green and Libertarian Parties. In her action,
Bysiewicz joins Connecticut Common Cause and Connecticut Citizen Action Group to support the
program and the principles on which the CEP was founded.
Bysiewicz argues that the first step must be to provide a fair and consistent set of rules for the 2010
elections. However, she pledged to continue her fight to protect and fine tune a system of campaign
financing that allows qualified candidates, regardless of personal wealth, to run for public office in the
years to come. “I’ve spent the better part of two decades trying to encourage young people to get
involved in our political process and in government. Public campaign financing ensures that anyone can
run for public office, not just the wealthiest among us or those supported by special interest money,”
said Bysiewicz.
“By establishing the CEP, we leveled the playing field so that ideas could take the place of dollars. We
cannot afford to go back in time where offices could be bought and money counted more than
anything,” said Bysiewicz. “Connecticut needs the CEP in 2010; but we’ll continue to need it in order to
attract the best, the brightest, and the most committed public servants in the future.”
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