 My name is Andrew Bossi and I am the Executive Director of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections. Thank you so much for being here today. We are here to celebrate an important and remarkable citizen-led effort that will shine a light on dark money on our elections, make our politicians more accountable to us, and restore our Maine Clean Election Law. This is an effort of, by, and for Maine people. We're here today because we want a government that's accountable to voters not bought and paid for by wealthy special interests. We're here today because when our democracy is threatened by big money, we, the people, will stand up and fight back. So I'm going to introduce a few key people in this effort who made this milestone possible in addition to all of the people behind and ahead of us that made this possible to make a few brief remarks. After that, we'll take some questions from the press and our citizen signers and field staff will lead this effort where we'll deliver the signatures to the secretaries straight in the cross-office building. That's on the fourth floor of the Burton Cross-Office Building. Several of us will also be available for questions after the press conference. So first up, I'd like to introduce MCCE's program director, BJ McCollister. BJ engineered our signature gathering effort and is here today to report on what is right before you. BJ. Thank you, Andy, and congratulations to the thousands of Mainers who made today possible. Today marks an important milestone in our Clean Elections Initiative, all made possible by over 1,000 public-spirited Maine citizens that went to the polls and went to fairs to collect signatures this summer. As Andy mentioned, this effort is truly of, by, and for Maine people. From Kinnery to Allagash and from Bethel to Lubeck, Maine voters stepped up to collect signatures in all 16 counties across the state. And today, we are presenting 85,185 signatures to qualify a measure for the ballot that will ensure that everyone, not just the wealthy, are represented in our democracy. During this campaign, over 1,000 volunteers collected over 85,000 signatures from Mainers that won a government of, by, and for the people. And those 85,000 people will talk to friends, neighbors, and family, and those will talk to more. This movement is growing, this movement is gaining steam, and it won't stop until it's unequivocally clear that we want a government that's accountable to voters, not wealthy donors. I am proud to announce that this November, Maine voters will get the chance to renew their support for transparency, accountability, and a robust Clean Elections system. And it's because of the people around me and the thousands of Mainers who signed the petition to make sure that we have a government that's working for us. Now many of the people behind me started with us nine months ago, and many joined along the way. And from Aroussic to York and every county of this state, in 264 towns, the people behind me spoke with friends, neighbors, and recruited volunteers for Primary Day, for fairs and festivals throughout the summer, and they capped off their drive with an amazing push on Election Day. In short, we delivered for Maine people. I am proud to stand with these people today, and I thank them for devoting so much time, energy, and passion to our cause. We have a long way to go, but today is about celebrating how far we've come, and these 85,185 signatures, this is about coming together for a government of, by, and for the people. Thank you, everybody, for all you've done. Thank you so much, BJ. Next up is Anne Luther, the lead citizen signer of this initiative, and is a respected leader in both the League of Women Voters and Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, long recognized as a trusted analyst and advocate on elections and campaign finance policy, and stepped up to a new, in a new way to co-lead our local signature gathering efforts in Hancock and Washington County. Anne. Hey, good morning, good morning, fellow Mainers. It's fitting to mark the anniversary of the disastrous Citizens United ruling with a concrete demonstration of Maine's motto, dear ago, or I lead. The future is in our hands, and so are 85,185 signatures that will qualify clean elections for the ballot. Uh-huh. Nine months ago, nine months ago, this moment was just a twinkle in our eyes, but we did it. Town clerks in every county in Maine have validated the signatures that you and I and so many others have collected. Congratulations to us all. I am so proud of what we've done and even more proud of what it means. Maine people are stepping up, just as they did 20 years ago, to address the problems of money in politics, undiscouraged by bad Supreme Court decisions, legislative inaction, gubernatorial vetoes, and repeated raids on the clean election fund. You and I are fulfilling our responsibility as citizens to strengthen our clean elections laws in an era of big money. Here, here. Yeah. Together, together, we are bringing needed transparency to election and post-election spending. We're raising the stakes so that would-be violators will think twice before breaking our campaign finance laws, and we're restoring the viability of our first in the nation clean election program. People around the country are watching. Maine people are stepping up. Where Washington and Augusta have failed, we will not fail. We can do this. We're going to do it. Today is about Maine people leading on one of the most important issues of our time. We simply will not back down when it comes to strengthening our democracy and the role of everyday people in it. We have much more to do, but today is about coming together to celebrate an important milestone. Thank you all for being here and for all you did to make today possible. Thank you so much. Now, I'd like to introduce recently retired Senator Ed Youngblood of Brewer. Before he entered politics, Ed was a banker, retiring as senior vice president after 30 years with Bangor Savings Bank. 15 years ago in 2000, Ed was a pioneer who used clean elections in his first run for office when the system was brand new and untested. He has been a powerful advocate for their program ever since. Here's Ed. Thank you, Anne. What a wonderful day to all come together. Democracy works best when good people get involved. Look around the room and see all the good people that are here today. There are no special qualifications needed to do this. We all have something to offer, and it all will make our communities and our state a better place for all of us to live. The Clean Election Initiative is all about making sure that main people have the opportunity to step up, run for office, serve their constituents without relying on big money special interests. High price lobbyists and there are a lot of them around and wealthy special interests must take a back seat to main people. That's why I'm here and why I spent Election Day talking with folks in my town about why the Clean Election Initiative is so important. So much about politics is about divisions. But in the Clean Election endeavor, we are mainers first all together. Republicans, Republicans like me, did work alongside Democrats, Greens, unenrolled voters to collect these signatures. That's a reflection of the widespread concern about the skyrocketing cost of elections and the growing role of money in politics. I consider myself a fiscal conservative. But regardless of how we label ourselves, I know that none of us favor sweetheart deals and giveaways promoted by big campaign donors over the interests of ordinary main people. Elections and government must be of, by and for, main people. We can do so much better and the Clean Election Initiative is exactly what we need. I want everyone who represents us in Augusta to have the same chance that I had. A chance to run a robust campaign, send it on voters in my district, win an election without being beholden to any campaign contributor, and serve in the statehouse knowing that I would never have to ask one of the many lobbyists that walked these hallways for a donation to my reelection campaign. Transparency, accountability, strong election laws is how we empower main voters to ensure government will be of, by and for, the people of Maine. I want to thank you all for your role in restoring, working toward restoring our main clean elections program. Together, we'll deliver these petitions so that Maine can deliver on the promise of clean elections. Thank you very much. Terrific. Thank you, Ann and Ed. There are hundreds of Maine people that deserve to be at this podium right now. All of you have so many stories, important stories to tell about money and politics. But we have a delivery to make today. And so I'm going to introduce just one more speaker that was a volunteer for this effort to talk, to make a few words about the Clean Elections Initiative. Jolene Lovejoy is a community leader from Rumford. She is one of the pioneers, like Senator Youngblood, who used an unproven new campaign finance system in 2000. Improved, it works. While Jolene did not win the seat in the House of Representatives, she did become a passionate voice for clean elections and all the opportunities it provides. Jolene? Thank you very much, Andy. And welcome to all of you here today. Good morning. I am Jolene Lovejoy. And as Andy said, I'm a very proud resident of the town of Rumford. In the year 2000, I had the greatest honor of running for the main House of Representatives as both a Republican and as a clean election candidate. So it's no wonder that on election day in 2014, I stood at the polls once again, this time to collect signatures for the Clean Elections Initiative. I support clean elections because I believe a candidate should never feel beholding to anyone other than the citizens that they run to represent. I was most proud to be a pioneer for clean elections. I wanted clean elections to work because I wanted to come to Augusta and represent only the people that had voted for me in my district. It shouldn't be whether one's rich or poor. Anyone with ideas and drives should be able to run for office. In Maine, we believe in hard work and fairness for all. When people from all walks of life, not just the wealthy, can serve in public office here in Augusta. Through my experience, both in business and community service, I've learned that all of us have something unique to contribute. No one should ever feel left out of the process. We should always welcome and encourage people from all walks of life to participate in the political arena. Clean elections opens that door of opportunity so that the widest possible range of people can bring their voices and perspective here to the state house in Augusta. Back in 2000, when I knocked on doors of constituents, folks didn't know very much about clean elections, and I made it part of my run to inform them about what was going on. As I began to explain and they asked questions, I could see pride rising up in their eyes. Pride in the knowledge that their state, the place they call home, was at the forefront of the fight for a more fair and accountable democracy. Unfortunately, that fight is not over. As clean elections has been eroded and the need for reform has become more and more clear, Mainers once stood at the polls with petitions in hand. Look at us, every day citizens throughout the state of Maine, each who worked to get the signatures. Our message is loud and it is clear. We are tired of big, dark money calling the shots. We're tired of special interest trying to influence our elected officials. A democracy cannot be bought. Enough is enough. We the people of Maine are the voice of the state. We want our government to work for us. Whether we're Democrats, Republicans, or even independents, we are all Mainers first and foremost. And because of that, we want a government that better represents all of us. A government of, by, and for the people of Maine and we deserve no less. Thank you so much, Jolene, and thank you to all the pioneers who pitched in to make the signature gathering effort possible. We stand shoulder to shoulder today. And it's a good thing that those shoulders are strong because there is a new generation coming up that has a big stake in creating a strong foundation for our future. Our 1,000 volunteers include everyone from students to retirees. And that's a good thing. Young and old, urban and rural, North, South, liberal and conservative, we are Mainers first. All right. So the Clean Elections Initiative is really of, by, and for the people. I want you folks to raise your hand if you pitched in for this effort. Yes, that's right. How many of you collected signatures? How many of you stood up polls? Yeah. How many of you hosted an event? We got to fix that. Looks like just about everyone here has made this initiative possible. Now, I want to say congratulations to Mainers on this first and important step in making our democracy even stronger. And tell us a little bit about the signature process here. How many people were involved and what happened? There were over 1,000 volunteers involved working over nine months to collect 85,185 signatures to put a Clean Elections Initiative on the ballot. It was a remarkable effort. Lots of volunteers pitched in. It was a large number of signatures. We exceeded our goal. We're so proud. And where were they gathering the signatures? Most of them were gathered on election day in 2014, some on primary day in 2014, and some at fairs, festivals, days of action over the summer. But by far the majority were on election day. And what kind of people were involved in the signature gathering process? It was everybody, from soup to nuts, almost all volunteers, like 99.9% volunteers, people from all walks of life, from all political stripes, Republicans, Democrats, independents, unenrolled, greens, everybody, from all walks of life, all jobs, all economic strata. It was just a real cross-section of main people. Now that you have the signatures there and it will be on the ballot in November, what are your next steps? Well, it has to go through a legislative process first, submitting it now. It will be before the first session of this legislature. And then depending on their action, we expect to be on the ballot in 2015. And what kind of education outreach campaign do you expect to have over the course of the summer and fall to get people to vote for it? Well, main people are by and large in favor of publicly financed elections. The clean election program is already well known and well understood. It's been supported by main people for over 15 years. So people already know that they like the clean election program and want it to work. People also know that they want big money out of politics. So we're starting out with main people behind us. And we just want to keep telling that story. This is a way to have a government of by and for the people and people are with us. And from a technical perspective, there were objections and legal problems with the previous clean election campaign. How is this initiative different? And how does it get around those objections? Well, the Supreme Court originally upheld our matching funds provision when it first went into effect. But it was overturned by the Supreme Court more recently. This program allows candidates running in competitive districts to access supplemental funding by demonstrating additional support in their district. So the more $5 qualifying contributions they can collect, the more supplemental funding they can access up to a maximum, which would be comparable to what they had access to under the old scheme. But because it's not a triggered matching fund triggered by someone else's spending, but only by the candidate's own action and support in their district, it's totally constitutional. And in some districts, you may have a clean election campaign candidate. But you may have somebody who has going with the big money. How do you handle that balance or that tension? Well, the program now allows candidates to get a very generous amount of supplemental funding, but it is capped. It's sufficient, but it will never be enough to beat a candidate who accesses a ton of money. But it is enough. It's enough for them to get their message out to run a robust independent campaign, even in a competitive district against a privately financed opponent. And we know that because we know before when we had triggered matching funds and privately financed candidates opposing each other, the clean election candidates were highly competitive in those races. So we think we've provided for enough funding for those candidates to run competitive campaigns. And what does all this mean for the future of Maine and its elections and its electorates? Well, I mean, dear ago, I lead. We think that this public financing program, the Clean Elections Act, was a groundbreaking program. In Maine, it was groundbreaking nationwide. We believe publicly financed campaigns are one of the remaining constitutional paths forward to get big money out of politics. And Maine has had a long tradition of fighting against big money in politics, and we think this is going to strengthen that tradition and provide hope and inspiration for people around the country to do the same in their state and at the federal level.