This election cycle, “Marketplace Morning Report” traveled to Arizona, where, in less than a month, voters will decide whether some of the biggest campaign spenders should have to reveal their true identities. How this measure got on the ballot, what it hopes to achieve and what opponents say about it provide lessons about the so-called dark money that can sway elections near you. We look at the consequences of hidden political spending for everyday people, with a case study of higher electric bills for Arizonans. We also explore how a citizen-led ballot initiative could change the rules and the pushback from those who believe there’s a right to anonymity as part of the right to free speech. And, what it takes to get one of these ballot measures in front of voters and where else across the country we’re seeing an effort to curb this mystery money.

There’s Arizona’s citizen-led initiative in 2022. And voters in Alaska and North Dakota passed similar measures in previous years.

Arizona is one of 21 states where people can submit signatures and petition. But getting something on the ballot is no easy task.

Proposition 211 would make political nonprofits disclose the names of original donors who spend beyond certain thresholds.

The story of the 2014 Arizona Corporation Commission election campaign and the influence of so-called dark money.