No More Foreign Cash in Local Votes: New Bill Blocks Outside Funds from State Ballot Measures

The Protecting Ballot Measures From Foreign Influence Act of 2025 is short, simple, and aims to close what some see as a significant loophole in campaign finance law. Essentially, this bill updates federal election law to explicitly ban foreign nationals from contributing or donating money to influence state or local ballot initiatives and referenda.

The Loophole Closure: What's Changing

Existing federal law (specifically Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971) already prohibits foreign nationals—meaning non-citizens who aren't lawful permanent residents—from funding federal, state, or local elections. That covers candidates running for office, from President down to city council. The problem, as identified by this bill, is that the law didn't explicitly mention ballot measures, like when your state votes on legalizing cannabis, raising minimum wage, or changing local zoning laws.

This bill inserts the phrase "or a State or local ballot initiative or ballot referendum" right into the existing prohibition. This means that if you’re a foreign national, you can’t drop cash into the campaign supporting or opposing a measure on your local ballot. The prohibition kicks in immediately upon the law’s enactment.

Why This Matters for Your Wallet and Your Town

Ballot measures are often where the rubber meets the road on policy that affects everyday life. Think about a measure to fund local schools through a property tax increase, or a referendum that changes how utilities are regulated. These decisions directly affect your cost of living, your kids’ education, and the quality of services in your community.

Before this bill, there was a risk that a foreign corporation or government could funnel money into a state to influence a specific law that benefited their interests—say, funding a campaign to deregulate a certain industry or block environmental protections. This bill ensures that the financial muscle behind these local policy fights comes from domestic sources, reinforcing the idea that only those directly affected by U.S. domestic policy should be funding its outcomes.

The Practical Takeaway

For the average person juggling work and family, this change means a little more security that the big-money campaigns you see plastered on billboards about Proposition X or Measure Y are funded by people and entities rooted here. It’s a clean-up measure for election integrity, aligning the treatment of direct democracy votes (ballot measures) with the rules already in place for candidate elections. While it won't stop foreign influence via non-monetary means—like online propaganda or media campaigns—it successfully blocks the most direct route of financial intervention in these highly impactful local votes.