Voter-owned Iowa – Clean Elections: Sign The Petition
Working
towards clean elections, or special-interest-free elections, in Iowa is
something I hope DFIA can apply itself to after November. The
system has been implemented in both Arizona and Maine and is working
well there, although conservatives in Arizona are already trying to
submarine the whole thing (see article below).
According to the Voter-owned Iowa website, clean elections consist of the following:
Voter-Owned
Elections is a voluntary system for state elections which provides
qualifying candidates – those who collect a set amount of signatures
and $5 donations from within their district – with a set amount of
money from a public source if they promise to refuse money from all
other sources. Voter-Owned Elections is known as “Clean Elections” in
several states.
The Voter-Owned System:
–Is voluntary.
–Is nonpartisan.
–Provides an alternative to the current system’s reliance on special interest money and wealthy contributors.
–Offers candidates who choose to run “voter-owned” a limited but competitive amount of money.
–Frees
candidates from the money chase so that they can spend time discussing
the issues with constituents and developing relationships with voters.
The
mission of Voter-Owned Iowa is to empower and unite grassroots Iowans
to address the corrupting influence of big money on our democracy;
balance the political playing field to give all people access to the
political process; and return democracy to the hands of the people.
Sign The Voter-owned Iowa Petition
Go here to sign the Voter-owned Iowa petition online.
The Patriot Amendment: Conservatives Attempt To Kill Clean Elections in Arizona
Molly Ivins, AxisOfLogic.com
.
. . This is what's happening in Arizona, where the successful Clean
Elections law is now under attack by the big special interests and
national conservatives with ties that run from Tom DeLay (surprise!) to
Bush's fund-raising machine.
Micah
Sifry of Public Campaign reports, “They've raised hundreds of thousands
of dollars to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot
that doesn't mention anywhere its true intent, to de-fund the Clean
Elections system.” This charming endeavor is masquerading under the
misnomer “No Taxpayer Money for Politicians,” a misleading moniker
right up there with Bush's “Clear Skies and Healthy Forests”
initiatives. What a shame they couldn't figure out a way to call it the
Patriot Amendment.
The bad
news for the bad guys is that evidence continues to accumulate that
Clean Elections work — they are actually reviving democracy. In
Arizona and Maine, where Clean Elections have been in effect for a
couple of years, more candidates are running and competitiveness has
increased. According to a study done by political scientists at the
University of Wisconsin in May of this year: “There is no question that
public funding programs have increased the pool of candidates willing
and able to run for state legislative office. This effect is most
pronounced for challengers, who are far more likely than incumbents to
accept public funding. In Arizona, the likelihood that an incumbent
will have a competitive race more than doubled from 22 percent of all
races in 1998 to 45 percent in 2002.”
(more)
Blog For Iowa 