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Wal-Mart
tried to influence voters through costly campaign - fined for failing to
register it Last year, Wal-Mart financed a campaign in Monroe, Wisconsin to get the voters to approve the construction of a supercenter. This was after a referendum had been called to ask the population whether they wanted to have these big box stores in the city. Now, the Bentonville retail giant has agreed to pay a fine for failing to register its campaign. The maximum fine of 500 USD may appear small, as well as the failure to register the campaign with the city clerk of Monroe. More serious is that Wal-Mart tries to intervene in the democratic process, spending big money to get voters to make decisions that are in the direct economic interest of the company. By not registering, as the law required them to do, Wal-Mart could avoid telling the public how much they were spending to get the referendum to support the company's financial interests. As it happened, not even the heavy spending on advertising and mass mailings helped. The people of Monroe decided with an overwhelming majority that Wal-Mart's superstores are not welcome to the city.
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