It’s time to test Voter-Owned Elections for N.C.
legislative races
· The pressure on legislative candidates to
raise money continues to rise. The average amount spent on General Assembly
races has jumped more than four-fold over the last decade.
· Public financing provides an alternative to
the money chase and rewards grassroots campaigning. It is essentially a “sweat
equity” program that requires the candidate who gathers many small donations
from registered voters in order to qualify for access to public funds.
· The program is voluntary – no candidate is
forced to participate.
· A pilot program could involve several
districts chosen by a super-majority vote of the Board of Elections, with
recommendations from majority and minority leaders in the General Assembly
· Funding for the program is voluntary. Money
would come from taxpayer-designated funds, so taxpayers are not compelled to
support the program or support a candidate they oppose.
Voter-Owned Elections is already working in
North Carolina.
In the 2004 election:
· 14 of 16 NC
Court of Appeals and Supreme Court candidates tried to qualify for public funds
· 12 of the 16
candidates (including 4 of the 5 winners) qualified and received $1.5 million
· 4 million households received the Judicial
Voter Guide about all 16 candidates
In the 2006 election:
· 8 of 12
general election top-court candidates are certified (others tried, but did not
qualify)
· From $144,000
to $216,650 has been awarded to each candidate for the general elections
· In the first
case of rescue funds, a candidate got extra funds to match an opponent
Voter-Owned Elections is working in other
states.
· In
use VOE public-financing systems, which began in 2000
·
Summary of the 2006 Bill (H-1851) Pilot
Legislative Public Financing Option
Sponsors: Hackney, Howard,
Ross; co-sponsors: Alexander, Barnhart, Bell, Brubaker, Coates, Dickson,
Fisher, Glazier, Harrison, Insko, Jeffus,
Justice, Lucas, Luebke, Martin, McGee, McLawhorn, Sauls, Sherrill,
Steen, Underhill, and Weiss
Purpose The bill is a pilot.
It will provide a public-financing option for candidates who prove they have
grassroots voter support in two House districts and two Senate districts as a
way to test this type of program for legislative races. It:
· Gives candidates an alternative to the money
chase
· Encourages voter involvement and “voter
ownership” of elections
· Puts realistic limits on skyrocketing
campaign costs
· Provides a good way to test how legislative
public financing could work
How does Candidates would first demonstrate
that they have earned the public’s trust to be
it work? eligible to participate in the
program. To qualify, you follow 3 steps:
STEP 1: Declare
your intent to participate in the VOE program.
If you raise or spend over $6,000 for campaign-related purposes before
filing this declaration, you can’t participate
STEP 2: Raise
a minimum of 150 small qualifying
donations ($10-$100) for the House and 300 for the Senate from registered
voters in
STEP 3: Stop all fund-raising after you are
certified as a qualified VOE candidate
Accept a total spending
limit
Use the public funds only
for campaign purposes
Return any unused public funds to the Public Campaign Fund
What does Candidates who qualify
receive a competitive sum of public money for the general
a certified election (the median spent in earlier elections). No initial
grant is awarded in the
candidate primary.
The candidate who raises qualifying donations and is the party nominee
get? gets funds for the general
election (about $50,000 for the House, $75,000 for Senate).
If a participating candidate is outspent by an
opponent privately-financing their campaign or by an outside opposition group
(including a 527), the candidate can receive “rescue” funds up to two times the
amount of the original public financing grant.
How do Districts are chosen by the State
Board of Election (by super-majority vote) from the
districts recommendations by
majority and minority leaders of each chamber.
The district
get chosen? must have a relatively
“competitive” mix of Republicans and Democrats and one of the candidates must
have expressed interest in participating in the program.
What does The program’s cost will
be minimal (about $350,000 a year) and can be funded by
it cost? the existing voluntary
check-off. No appropriation is
requested; the bill specifies that money can only come from taxpayer-designated
funds. Taxpayers are not forced to support this program if they don’t want to;
there is no “compelled speech.”
For more information, contact NC Voters
for Clean Elections at