The Task Force Organization operates as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service’s Tax Code. This article is nonpartisan research meant to educate the American public about democracy-related issues. The research presented in this article is not intended to advocate for a candidate, political party, or policy.
Imagine a tool embedded deep inside our Constitution designed to safeguard American democracy. Now imagine that same tool being weaponized against the very constitution and democracy it was designed to protect.
One year ago, the Task Force authored a report titled “The Unknown Threat to American Democracy”. The report delves into the ambiguity of an Article V Constitutional Convention (AVCC), a virtually unknown provision that could fundamentally reshape our Constitution, our liberties, and our democracy. Our report builds off previous nonprofit and government research of Article V, presenting a broad analysis of AVCC, shedding light on its original intent, its past influence on Congressional action, its vulnerabilities, and the current attempts at its invocation.
Historically, AVCC was designed as a safeguard against power concentration, providing a mechanism for states to propose and ratify constitutional amendments without the involvement of Congress. However, our report reveals how AVCC’s vagueness may ironically cause the power concentration it was designed to prevent. AVCC’s invocation is now closer to success than ever before, largely due to a new wave of funding, lobbying, and astroturfing operations fueled by special interests and dark money.
AVCC status by the states: Special interests only need four more orange states to trigger a convention.
Our report introduces the term “Constitutional Convention Invocation Movement” (CCIM) to describe the group of special interests and advocacy organizations pushing for a two-thirds majority of states to call an Article V Constitutional Convention. It uncovers the dark money flow that benefits these proponents and highlights the risk of a runaway convention which would threaten American democracy. Our report also delves into the role of prominent advocacy groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Convention of States (COS) who are pushing for AVCC invocation. It uncovers their funding sources, their influence on state legislatures, and their potential impact on the democratic process through AVCC.
However, our report does not simply identify the problem—we offer a call to action! We demand a comprehensive awareness campaign called the Safeguard Article V Exploitation Campaign (the SAVE Campaign) to educate the American public about potential abuses of AVCC. This would ensure that AVCC continues to serve its original purpose while mitigating the risks associated with its invocation.
The full version of the report is available here.
