john bonifaz for Secretary of State of Massachusetts

Background:

I am the founder of the National Voting Rights Institute (www.nvri.org) and a public interest attorney. For the past dozen years, I have been standing up to fight to protect our right to vote and to preserve our democracy. When 67% of Massachusetts voters passed the Massachusetts Clean Elections Law to overhaul our state's campaign finance system, I stood up to defend that law in court in the face of resistance by entrenched power in the Massachusetts legislature. When George W. Bush was preparing to take the nation into into an illegal war against Iraq, I stood up and sued the president in federal court in Boston on behalf of a coalition of US soldiers, parents of soldiers, and Members of Congress (led by Congressman John Conyers, Jr.), challenging him for lacking the constitutional authority to launch a first-strike invasion of Iraq absent a congressional declaration of war or equivalent action. And, on the day after the November 2004 election, when we began to hear reports of widespread voting irregularities in Ohio, I stood up and fought for a full recount of the 2004 presidential vote in Ohio, representing a coalition of voters, candidates, and public interest organizations. More information on my background can be found at www.johnbonifaz.com

Goals:

I am running for Secretary of State of Massachusetts because I believe we need a pro-active leader in that office who will fight to protect the right to vote, to strengthen our democracy, and to create a model for free and fair elections for the country. As Massachusetts Secretary of State, I will work to advance a new Voters' Bill of Rights to expand our political process and make our democracy work for all of us. (See www.johnbonifaz.com for a copy of the Voters' Bill of Rights.) I will work for corporate accountability to ensure that corporations doing business in Massachusetts are accountable to the workers and people of Massachusetts. And I will work to make our state government more accessible to small businesses seeking to register and operate in the state, to citizens seeking access to public records, and to people who have been traditionally locked out of the political process.

Issues:

I am running to strengthen our democracy via a new Voters' Bill of Rights, to fight for corporate accountability, and to make our government more accessible to all.

Grassroots Support:

This is a grassroots, outsider campaign. It will not be dominated by big money interests. As such, we rely heavily on grassroots organizing and support as the core of our campaign. Through this campaign, we will build a strong progressive network in the state of grassroots activists ready to fight for our democracy.

DFA Values:

I believe that our government must respect the basic human dignity of all people and advance policies that demonstrate that respect. I stand shoulder to shoulder with people in this country fighting for civil rights and human rights for everyone and fighting for economic justice for all. We are most fiscally responsible when we ensure that those who have gained the most from our society contribute their fair share and when our government is controlled by all of us, not by big monied interests.