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How much will it cost
and how will we pay for it?
It is estimated that Iowa could have a fully
funded Voter-Owned Elections system for $10 million per year, or
less than 1/10 of 1% of our state’s annual budget.
There are several possible ways to pay for a Voter-Owned Elections
system. Bipartisan committees are currently considering several
options. Some examples are:
- $5 qualifying contributions.
- Voluntary income tax check-off.
- Excess seed money raised by candidates
trying to decide if they should run.
- Voluntary donations.
- Fines levied by the state’s campaign
disclosure board.
- Other sources determined by the state
legislature.
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Is a Voter-Owned Elections
law constitutional?
Yes it is. One reason is because it is voluntary.
Also, on October 11, 2002, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that
using public money to finance political campaigns is constitutional.
The Court said that taxes are used “to pay the salaries of
state legislators, some of whom an individual taxpayer might support
and others whom the taxpayer might not support. Yet no one would
suggest that such payments violate the First Amendment.” The
U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the Arizona court’s
decision.
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Is Voter-Owned Elections
just “Welfare for politicians?”
No, in fact Voter-Owned Elections require
candidates to get out and meet voters, and work to show viability.
Voter-Owned Elections is a way of returning government to the people
it represents, not welfare. It is a way of ensuring that the government
is not controlled by special interests. Many incumbents and other
candidates have used the system to prevent themselves from feeling
beholden to special interests. Maine Republican Senator Ed Youngblood
is a retired bank executive. He admits that he could have easily
raised the money to fund his campaign. But he wanted to spend time
talking with voters and not dealing with potential funders. “I
wanted to be able to say ‘I’m not accountable to anyone
but you, the voter.’ Obviously it worked well - I got elected.”
And he defeated a 16-year incumbent Democrat.
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Will candidates receive
enough money to run a competitive campaign?
Yes. Candidates who choose Voter-Owned Elections
funding get the equivalent of what is being spent, on average, today
for campaigns. The actual dollar amounts are lower because candidates
no longer have certain expenses, like fundraising. Participating
candidates receive additional funds in the form of a dollar-for-dollar
match, up to a set limit, if a nonparticipating opponent spends
more than the basic public financing grant.
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Would Voter-Owned Elections
undermine the strength of and need for political parties?
No. Under a Voter-Owned system, political
parties can - and should - remain active in nominating and endorsing
candidates; identifying, researching, and developing the party’s
positions on issues; and carrying out non-candidate specific voter
registration, get-out-the vote drives, and other “party building”
activities. Voter-Owned reform still allows political parties to
play a vital role within the political process.
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Can third-party candidates
participate in the Voter-Owned system?
Yes. The Voter-Owned system is nonpartisan.
Any candidate who gets the required number of signatures and $5
qualifying contributions from within their district can participate
in the system.
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Would better campaign
finance disclosure laws solve the problem instead of public financing?
No, even though reporting has improved in
recent years and we know more about candidates’ funding, it
is nearly impossible for the average voter to make sense of this
disclosure data without additional information to put it into context.
A lot of related information, such as what legislative action a
contributor is interested in, doesn’t become available until
well after the election. Full and immediate disclosure is necessary
but is far from sufficient. We still need a Voter-Owned Elections
law.
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If you have further questions, contact Adam
at 515/282-0484 or adam@iowacci.org.
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