Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Nation’s first campaign donation vouchers survive court challenge

Nation’s first campaign donation vouchers survive court challenge

The Washington Supreme Court allowed Seattle's first-in-the-nation campaign donation vouchers to continue.

This story was updated Thursday evening with new developments.

Taxpayer-funded political donation vouchers in Seattle can continue because they don't restrict any voter's free speech rights, the Supreme Court of Washington ruled Thursday.

The unanimous decision, upholding the only program of its kind in the nation, is a potential milestone for the cause of revamping the way money flows in politics.

While the city's vouchers are unique, the judicial blessing is nonetheless welcome news for the public financing systems created in seven other cities and counties across the country since Seattle established its program four years ago. It is also a sign that various ideas for government subsidizing of campaigns — which are under discussion in dozens of local jurisdictions, have advanced halfway through Congress this spring and also become a topic on the Democratic presidential campaign trail — will remain open to debate without being readily swept away as violating the Constitution.


Seattle's system "does not alter, abridge, restrict, censor, or burden speech. Nor does it force association between taxpayers and any message conveyed by the program. Thus, the program does not violate First Amendment rights," Justice Steven Gonzalez wrote for all nine justices on the state's top court.

Catie Kelley of the Campaign Legal Center, which helped defend the system in the case, hailed the decision as "a good sign and will give confidence to other jurisdictions pursuing public financing."

Attorneys for the property owners said they would likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a 2015 referendum, the city voted to provide as many as four "democracy vouchers," worth $25 each, to every eligible voter in Seattle to spend in local elections. (Only candidates who agree to spending limits, and to taking only small-dollar donations, can accept the scripts.)

The aim was to boost civic engagement and partly redistribute the wealth — concentrated in a relatively small share of wealthy interests — that had financed municipal elections in the past. To fund the program at $3 million a year for a decade, Seattle voters also approved a tax increase costing the average homeowner $8 annually.

The first results, in 2017, were mixed. There were twice as many donations by voucher than by cash or check, and only 4 percent of residents used their vouchers, according to a University of Washington study. Most were claimed by the sorts of older and white voters whose participation rate in city elections was already high. And bureaucratic problems delayed the delivery of some voucher money to the politicians.

Still, 46,000 vouchers worth $1.1 million went to about a dozen candidates, several of whom said they would never have considered running without the taxpayer subsidy.

At the same time, a lawsuit was filed by the libertarian-leaning Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of two Seattle property owners alleging the system violated their free speech rights by making them — through their property taxes — support candidates they opposed.

The argument was rejected outright by Thursday's ruling, meaning the system will stay in place for this year's city council elections, and they system's acceptance is blossoming. By the start of July, with the elections four months away, 32 candidates have received almost 49,000 vouchers worth $1.2 million.

The political overhaul bill passed this spring by the U.S. House with only democratic votes, dubbed HR 1, would create a system where candidates could get $6 in federal funds for every $1 raised from individuals in checks of $200 or less. All seven Democratic senators running for president have endorsed that bill, but their Republican colleagues says it will never get a vote. In addition, Kristen Gillibrand of New York has worked to boost her low standing in the polls by touting a voucher proposal based on Seattle's system.

Correction: Earlier versions wrongly said Seattle had instituted the first public campaign financing of any kind in the country, and that its voucher system had been replicated in other cities.

Read More

Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series
polling station poster on clear glass door

Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series

In Part One, Pat Merloe explored the impact of the political environment, the need for constitutional defense against power-grabbing, and the malign effects of proof of citizenship on voting.

In the second part of the three-part series, Merloe explores the harmful effects of Executive Orders, the reversal of the Justice Department on voting rights, and the effects of political retribution.

Keep ReadingShow less
Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series
Voted printed papers on white surface

Defend Democracy Against Bombardments on the Elections Front –A Three-Part Series

In Part 1, Pat Merloe examines the impact of the political environment, the necessity of constitutional defense against power-grabbing, and the detrimental effects of proof of citizenship on voting.

Part One: Bellicose Environment, Constitutional Infringements, and Disenfranchisement by Proof of Citizenship

The intense MAGA barrage against genuine elections, leading up to 2024’s voting, paused briefly after Election Day - not because there was diminished MAGA hostility towards typically trustworthy processes and results, but mainly because Donald Trump won. Much valuable work took place to protect last year’s polls, and much more will be needed as we head toward 2026, 2028, and beyond.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rear view diverse voters waiting for polling place to open
SDI Productions/Getty Images

Open Primaries Topic Creates a Major Tension for Independents

Open primaries create fine opportunities for citizens who are registered as independents or unaffiliated voters to vote for either Democrats or Republicans in primary elections, but they tacitly undermine the mission of those independents who are opposed to both major parties by luring them into establishment electoral politics. Indeed, independents who are tempted to support independent candidates or an independent political movement can be converted to advocates of our duopoly if their states have one form or another of Open Primaries.

Twenty U.S. states currently have Open Primaries for at least one political party at the presidential, congressional, and state levels, including Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. At least 15 states conduct "semi-closed" primaries, a middle position in which unaffiliated voters still have an option to choose to vote in one of the major party primaries. 

Keep ReadingShow less
Voter registration
The national voter registration form is now available in 20 non-English languages, including three Native American languages.
SDI Productions

With Ranked Choice Voting in NYC, Women Win

As New York prepares to choose its next city council and mayor in primaries this week, it’s worth remembering that the road to gender equality in the nation’s largest city has been long and slow.

Before 2021, New York’s 51-member council had always been majority male. Women hadn’t even gotten close to a majority. The best showing had been 18 seats, just a tick above 35 percent.

Keep ReadingShow less