A majority of Pennsylvania's Members of Congress have indicated support for publicly funded elections.
CLEAN ELECTIONS IN ARIZONA AND MAINE
A majority of Pennsylvania's Members of Congress have indicated support for publicly funded elections. |
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CLEAN ELECTIONS IN ARIZONA AND MAINE |
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In Arizona and Maine, Clean Elections have been working since 2000, providing public financing to candidates and breaking the hold that incumbents and their self-interested private campaign financers have on our democracy. Large numbers of candidates have run and won as Clean Election candidates in Arizona and Maine. Over 80% of the candidates in Maine's 2006 legislative elections participated in the program. In Arizona, ten out of the eleven statewide office holders, including the Governor of Arizona, have run and won as Clean Candidates. Members of all parties participate. HOW DO CLEAN ELECTIONS WORK? |
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In Arizona and Maine a citizen can receive public funding to run for office by demonstrating community support for their candidacy. Candidates collect signatures and $5 from a set number of people in their district. Once they have collected enough signatures and $5 contributions, they turn over the signatures and the money to a commission set up to administer Clean Elections. In order to receive public money Clean Money candidates must agree to limit their spending, to accept no private campaign money, and to spend none of their own money on their campaign. If a Clean Elections candidate is running against a candidate financed by private campaign contributions and that opponent spends more than the amount provided to the Clean Elections candidate by the commission, then the commission will provide additional money to the Clean Elections candidate. The additional funds can be up to three times the original amount given by the commission to the Clean Elections candidate. That is the short explanation of how Clean Elections work. To learn more about the nuts and bolts, click below to read Arizona's Clean Election Institute's "2006 Guide to Clean Elections". The "Guide" (listed on the page under "Publications") outlines the details of Arizona's system. There is also a link to the Maine Clean Election Act. |
LINKS TO PUBLIC CAMPAIGN FINANCING GROUPS Public Campaign - National advocacy group for publicly funded elections.
"Voters First" Pledge - See if your members of Congress have taken the Pledge to put the voters' interests first, ahead of the lobbyists and campaign donors. Organized by the Public Campaign Action Fund, Common Cause, Public Citizen and other state and national groups. Just $6 - Former Senators Warren Rudman (R-New Hampshire), Bob Kerrey (D-Nebraska), Alan Simpson (R-Wyoming) and Bill Bradley (D-New Jersey) are Co-Chairs of this effort to bring public funding to all federal elections. Center for Governmental Studies - "Keeping it Clean". This report (PDF) analyses many of the public financing arrangements already in place across the United States. It is fairly lengthy (134 pages) but includes a short Executive Summary.
LINKS TO CLEAN ELECTIONS IN ARIZONA AND MAINE
Arizona - Clean Elections Institute, "2006 Guide to Clean Elections" Citizens Clean Election Commission, Arizona's Commission regulating Clean Elections Clean Elections Institute, Inc., Advocacy Group that helped put Clean Elections in place in Arizona Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, Advocacy group in Maine Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, Administers Clean Election Act
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