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Citizens in Charge Foundation
| Citizens in Charge Foundation | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Woodbridge, Va. |
| Type: | 501(c)(3) |
| Top official: | Paul Jacob, President |
| Year founded: | 2003 |
| Website: | Official website |
The Citizens in Charge Foundation (CCF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Virginia. The foundation is dedicated to promoting the initiative & referendum process.[1]
Mission
According to the Citizens in Charge Foundation, the group's mission is as follows:[1]
| “ |
Citizens in Charge Foundation works with activists, legislators, media, opinion leaders and voters to protect the initiative & referendum process in the 24 states where it exists, and to expand the process to states currently lacking the initiative. We also work to educate the general public on the benefits of citizen initiative, referendum and recall and litigate through the court system to protect and expand those rights.[2] |
” |
Background
Citizens in Charge Foundation works with activists, media, educators, opinion leaders and voters to protect the initiative & referendum process where it exists in 24 states and to expand the process to the 26 states where voters currently lack the initiative. Citizens in Charge Foundation works across party lines to educate the public on the benefits of citizen initiative, referendum and recall and also litigates to protect and expand those rights.
Citizens in Charge Foundation empowers grassroots leaders across the country through their Citizen State Coordinator Program. These volunteer coordinators make a difference by engaging in activities at the local and state level to protect and defend the ballot initiative process. Our team of Citizen State Coordinators mobilizes “boots-on-the-ground” activists, meets and works with elected officials and opinion leaders, and hosts educational events.
To rapidly build coalitions, Citizens in Charge Foundation provides small start-up grants to organizations in the 24 states that have statewide initiative and referendum rights. These grants allow state organizations to set up a website, host a town hall event and/or other outreach and capacity-building activities.
CCF is nonpartisan and does not support any initiatives, referenda, or candidates for office.
Leadership
Below is the list of the CCF board:[3]
- Paul Jacob, President
- Eric O'Keefe, Director
- Theresa Amato, Director
- Michael Foudy, Director
- Grover G. Norquist, Director
- William Redpath, Director
- John J. Woodcock III, Director
- Kermitt Waters, Director
Legislation ratings
The national office of CCF sends out e-alerts during the time of the year that state legislatures are in session that "track and report legislation around the country dealing with initiative, referendum, and petition rights by state."
CCF rates laws introduced in state legislatures that would have an influence on the process voters must go through to qualify a ballot initiative for the ballot. They have a three-tiered ranking system.
| Color code | Impact on initiative rights |
|---|---|
| Protects or expands voters’ initiative and referendum rights | |
| Influences voters’ access to initiative and referendum, but neither reduce nor expand voter’s access | |
| Reduces voters’ initiative and referendum rights |
Save the Initiative Tour
The Save The Initiative Tour was a campaign started by CCF with the goal of undoing restrictions placed on the voter initiative & referendum process.
Citizens In Charge
Citizens in Charge is a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization that works directly with public officials and voters to protect and spread ballot initiative rights. Citizens in Charge and Citizens in Charge Foundation are separate organizations.
Ballotpedia
Citizens in Charge Foundation was the original sponsor of Ballotpedia. The Lucy Burns Institute is the current sponsor.
Funding
The Citizens In Charge Foundation does not accept government funding and is supported entirely by the goodwill of private donors.
2016 presidential elections
Opposition to Donald Trump
On June 17, 2016, several reports emerged in different media outlets identifying Kendal Unruh as the "leader" of an effort to prevent Donald Trump from winning the nomination at the national convention; the Citizens in Charge Foundation is also backing the initiative. At the center of the effort was a rules amendment supported by Unruh that would allow a delegate to vote at the convention for a candidate other than the one to whom he or she was allocated, if doing so went against that delegate's conscience.[4] Unruh, a member of the 2016 Republican National Convention's Rules Committee, stated that "[t]his literally is an ‘Anybody but Trump’ movement. Nobody has any idea who is going to step in and be the nominee, but we’re not worried about that. We’re just doing that job to make sure that he’s not the face of our party."[5] The effort was receiving outside aid from Republican operatives who worked to raise $2.5 million to run ads suggesting that delegates are able to vote for whomever they wish. Citizens in Charge Foundation was funding outreach for the campaign. The foundation also published a book by Curly Haugland, who has argued that delegates are not bound and can vote freely.[5][6]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Citizens+ in+ Charge+ Foundation"
- All stories may not be relevant to this organization due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- 501(c)(3)
- Initiative & Referendum Institute
- PACs and Super PACS
- Political action committee
- Super PAC
- Federal Election Commission
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Citizens in Charge Foundation, "About Us," accessed June 21, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ CCF, "Board of Directors," accessed June 21, 2016
- ↑ NBC News, "Campaign to Dump Trump at Republican Convention Emerges," June 17, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Washington Post, "Dozens of GOP delegates launch new push to halt Donald Trump," June 17, 2016
- ↑ CCF, "Unbound: The Conscience of a Republican Delegate by Curly Haugland & Sean Parnell," accessed June 21, 2016
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