LETTERS TO THE EDITOR | Find out who’s selling candidates

A lot of people blame the U.S. Supreme Court for damaging our democratic election process by giving corporations more influence, but this is true only to a degree.

To the editor:

A lot of people blame the U.S. Supreme Court for damaging our democratic election process by giving corporations more influence, but this is true only to a degree. Corporations and wealthy individuals have been influencing elections for a long time. The means to nullify that influence has been at our fingertips for a long time, as well, but few people seem to use it.

Anyone who can type “www.pdc.wa.gov” into a web browser can tell who is trying to sell you a “product” in a few minutes. Every candidate for public office must disclose his/her contributors, by name and amount, to the Public Disclosure Commission. For every office, the first page of contributors for any candidate or ballot initiative will reveal the top contributors. If you trust those contributors’ personal or business ethics, then it’s up to your judgment. If not, then be very afraid of what that candidate or initiative will do, or not do, for you.

If you can’t research the PDC website yourself, then ask anyone who comes to your door on behalf of a candidate or ballot initiative to show you the first page of contributors to the campaign. You will save a lot of time and learn a lot more than by listening to some stranger who may not know any more than you do.

Jim Bruner

Oak Harbor