"The arms race for money that drives our campaigns threatens the concept of one person, one vote."
Voter-Owned Elections
Why We Need It
- Without clean elections we're getting less democracy for more money.
- The skyrocketing cost of campaigns pushes candidates into a money chase, and almost all the campaign donations (90%) from North Carolina donors comes from only 1% of the state's population.
- Voters are turned off, and many qualified candidates are excluded by a lack of funds.
- Candidates spend too much time raising money and not enough time interacting with voters.
How It Works
The Problems |
The Costs |
Our Solutions |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Money Chase: Too much money is flooding the political system; campaign fundraising is out of control. |
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The cost of winning a seat in the NC legislature has tripled in the past decade. It costs an average of $198,150 to win a seat in the NC Senate. | |
The NC Voter-Owned Elections Act gives candidates an alternative, a way to escape the money chase. |
| Special Interests: The money comes from too many special interests and too few people. |
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90% of campaign money in NC comes from less than 1% of the population. Most is given through PACs or large donations. | |
To qualify, Voter-Owned Elections candidates must show support by getting a fixed number of signatures and small donations from voters. |
| Expensive Favors: Big donors sometimes use their influence to get tax breaks, weak regulations, or favors that cost us millions. |
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Roads built to please political donors cost $150 million a year. Tax breaks for insurance firms and banks cost $100 million. | |
Voter-Owned Elections candidates are accountable to voters, not to wealthy special interests, so they can oppose wasteful subsidies. |
| The Wealthy Primary: Too many good candidates lose (or don't even run) because they lack financial resources. |
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In the past three elections, the top-spending candidate for each seat in legislature won 84% of the time. | |
Voter-Owned Elections candidates who qualify get a competitive amount from a public fund and agree to a spending limit. |