Dogged. Indefatigable. Diligent. Determined. Steadfast. And oh my gosh, just plain heroic. The four-dozen or so Kane County residents who circulated petitions to stop special interest money from buying favors from our politicians are my heroes. They were headed by Kaye Gamble, and were part of the national Move to Amend effort.
For days on end, they endured 90 to 100 degree heat. They asked the same question, “Are you a Kane County registered voter?” hundreds and hundreds of times. And when people were willing to stop and talk with them, they explained the same thing over and over and over again. With enthusiasm and patience. They listened and they responded with accurate information.
When people stopped to hear what the petition was about, most people signed it. But sometimes it was difficult to get peoples’ attention. Some passers- by believed the group was trying to register voters or take an opinion survey and didn’t want to get involved. But when people did stop to hear the issue, just about everybody signed the petitions, Gamble said. Some were so enthusiastic they brought their spouses, friends, and voting age children over to sign. All were thankful of the group’s efforts.
In the end, Kaye Gamble’s Move to Amend group got nearly 15,000 signatures from citizens in Kane County who believe we should let voters decide if corporations are indeed people with the right to put unlimited money into politicians’ pockets, essentially buying politicians in exchange for legislative favors.
The petitions requested that this question be placed on the November ballot “Should the United States Constitution be amended to limit the use of corporate, special interest, and private money in any political activity, including influencing the election of any candidate for public office?”
Gamble, her group, and the Move to Amend movement, believe that defining property as persons–in this case corporations—is fundamentally immoral and a threat to real people, our democratic government, and our planet.
It was this very real concern that motivated Gamble and her group to keep on going, even when the project seemed daunting.
“It takes about one hour to get ten signatures,” said Joni Lindgren, of Elgin.
Lindgren and her husband Len spent hours and hours for days on end asking for signatures in the heat of this record breaking hot summer.
“There was a group of passionate people that kept us going,” Gamble said. “When one of us faltered and fell in our hope to get all the signatures we needed, another stepped forward to carry on.”
“I felt an obligation to all those who signed to keep on going, to finish the effort to get this on the ballot,” Joni Lindgren said.
The group delivered the stack of petitions to Suzanne Fahnestock, Kane County Director of Elections on Monday, August 6. While the group met significantly more than the required 11,800 signatures to be placed on the November ballot, the decision to do so will be made by election officials by August 13.
Tags: 2012 elections, Citizens United, constitutional amendment, corporations, Illinois, Joni Lindgren, Kane County, Kaye Gamble, money in politics, Move to Amend, PACs, petition drive, Suzanne Fahnestock, U. S. Supreme Court
