Petitions Submitted To Overturn Citizens United Ruling

More than 1,000 signatures were submitted to Shorewood and Whitefish Bay village halls today calling for a local referendum to get big money out of politics.

The petitions demand the villages of Shorewood and Whitefish Bay hold a referendum asking residents whether they would support a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, which states corporations have the same rights as people and can spend unlimited amounts of money on campaigns.


A group of about 70 volunteers from Grassroots North Shore collected 1,232 signatures in Shorewood and 1,405 signatures in Whitefish Bay. The group was  required to collect 1,027 signatures in Shorewood and 1,156 in Whitefish Bay – which is 15 percent of the voters that cast a ballot in the most recent gubernatorial election.

"People are recognizing that this runs against the concept of democracy as we know it," Grassroots North Shore President Keith Schmitz said. "We are joining countless communities across the country including Wisconsin in saying that we want to have our voices heard, and we're standing up against the hijacking of our political system through big money."

The effort was spearheaded specifically by Grassroots North Shore member Shirley Horowitz, who said – of the 70 volunteers – all but 10 were from Whitefish Bay and Shorewood. The remaining volunteers were from neighboring North Shore communities.

"Primarily this was the efforts of a lot of people who had not even participated before in politics," she said. "They just showed up out of nowhere and said they were willing to help."

With the petitions submitted, Whitefish Bay and Shorewood will now join 18 municipalities and counties in Wisconsin that have went on record against the Supreme Court ruling. 

United Wisconsin, a statewide political advocacy group, has helped organize each of the petition drives, and is now focusing on a petition campaign in Waukesha.

Sixteen states have already went on record against Citizens United, which is nearly halfway to the 34 states needed to introduce a constitutional amendment. Erik Kirkstein, the deputy director for United Wisconsin, said legislators will again attempt to get a Citizens United referendum on the statewide ballot in the next legislative session.

"What we are really doing is sending a message that we want the state of Wisconsin to join the 16 states who have already passed a constitutional amendment calling to reign in corporate spending on elections and put citizens back in charge," Kirkstein said.