Foreign nationals are allowed to spend large amounts of money to influence ballot issues in Michigan and other states across the country, using their financial power to override the will of the voters and manipulate elections of candidates for public office, the latter of which is explicitly illegal. Foreign billionaires use loopholes in our federal election laws to change state laws and public policies and affect elections as a way to undermine American power.
“As the watchdog group Americans for Public Trust uncovered, a Swiss billionaire named Hansjörg Wyss has contributed at least half a billion dollars to liberal political causes in the U.S., despite being a noncitizen,” the Honest Elections Project notes in regard to one notorious example. “That huge sum includes $243 million given to an organization called the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-wing dark money group that has spent a staggering $130 million on ballot issues to push late-term abortion, skew election laws for liberal advantage, and even decriminalize drugs in 25 states.”
Through the ballot measure loophole, “foreign nationals directly influence everything from abortion to energy policy, affect the makeup of state legislatures and Congress through redistricting amendments, and back measures partisan groups acknowledge they are using to drive turnout and impact key races,” the organization states.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the Federal Elections Campaign Act does not prohibit foreign nationals from “issue advocacy,” as opposed to contributing money to candidates for public office. The Federal Election Commission ruled in 2015 that “the Act ‘does not bar foreign nationals from issue advocacy’ or other forms of civic engagement in this country, such as lobbying,” because a state or local ballot initiative does not “constitute an ‘election’ under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended.”
States, however, may limit or ban funding of referenda or ballot initiatives by foreign nationals, including any “partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons organized under the laws of or having its principal place of business in a foreign country,” the FEC ruled in 2021.
Currently, 25 states have full or partial bans on foreign nationals’ or governments’ funding of referenda.
Arkansas’s law is an example of a complete ban. It applies to all “[p]ersons who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents; foreign governments; foreign political parties; and entities organized under the laws or with principal place of business in a foreign country,” according to Ballotpedia. The bill “prohibits foreign nationals from donating directly or indirectly to ballot measure committees and requires these committees to affirm in campaign finance reports that they have not knowingly received contributions or expenditures from prohibited sources,” Ballotpedia reports.
In July 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act, which would prohibit “contributions or donations by foreign nationals in connection with state or local ballot initiatives, referenda, or recall elections” throughout the United States. The Senate version is under consideration in the chamber’s Committee on Rules and Administration.
Speaking in support of the congressional legislation, cosponsor Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said, “The ballot is the instrument by which a free people govern themselves,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement reported by Ballotopedia. “No foreign government, foreign national, or foreign interest should have a hand in deciding the laws Americans live under. Today’s unanimous vote is an important step in our broader bipartisan work to protect the integrity of our elections, preserve the sovereignty of the American voter, and strengthen public faith in self-government.”
Instead of waiting for federal action, Michigan lawmakers can protect the state’s voters from being overruled by foreign money in referenda and ballot initiatives that would not pass without this outside interference.
The following documents provide useful information about foreign funding of referenda and ballot initiatives and expose how it can override the will of the people and the judgments of their elected representatives in Michigan and other states:
H.R.3535 – Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act, 119th Congress (2025-2026)
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act on July 13, 2026. If passed by the Senate and signed by the president, the bill would prohibit “contributions or donations by foreign nationals in connection with state or local ballot initiatives, referenda, or recall elections” throughout the United States.
“U.S. House Passes Bill Banning Foreign Contributions to State and Local Ballot Measure Campaigns”
Ballotpedia reports on the U.S. House of Representatives’ July 2026 passage of the Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act, explains the Federal Election Commission decision that established a loophole allowing the contributions, recounts a proponent’s reasons for supporting the legislation, and identifies state bans on foreign contributions to candidates and to referenda and ballot initiatives.
Myth vs. Fact: Foreign Funding in Ballot Initiatives
The Honest Elections Project explains how foreign nationals influence referenda and ballot initiatives across the United States and answers objections to state and federal laws that would stop the practice.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law House Bill 1837 in April 2025. The legislation “To Amend The Law Concerning Disclosure For Matters Referred To Voters; and to Ban Foreign Funding For Ballot Measures …” is a complete ban on foreign funding of ballot initiatives in the state.
Federal Election Commission Factual and Legal Analysis
The Federal Election Commission’s decision regarding “Stop I-186 to Protect Miners and Jobs” upheld the use of foreign donations to support state ballot initiatives, arguing the Federal Elections Campaign Act applies only to candidate elections and not referenda or ballot initiatives.
Laws Governing Foreign Spending in Ballot Campaigns
Ballotpedia outlines the state laws currently affecting foreign spending on ballot initiatives across the country, specifying each state’s definition of what constitutes a foreign national, what types of contributions are banned, and when each statute was enacted.
S. T. Karnick is a senior fellow and director of publications for The Heartland Institute.
