A measure on the November ballot in Portland aims to level the playing field for local office seekers.
by a referendum in 2015. The program requires candidates to gather a certain amount of $5 contributions from voters in their district in order to qualify, and then commit to only spending money they receive from the state while eschewing all private funding.
From the 2016 to 2020 election cycles, 55% of state candidates participated in the grants program, according to a from the group Democracy Maine. The report also shows that as of the 2020 election, public funding has grown to become the larger share of state campaign spending, after having been dominated by privately-raised funding as recently as 2016.
In Portland, the Clean Elections program, proposed to start in the 2023-2024 elections, would — similar to the state system — issue funding to participating candidates who prove support from Portland residents, abide by limits on private contributions, and agree to take part in at least one public debate, among other things. As with other public campaign financing programs in states and cities, the city clerk’s office would create a searchable online database of all campaign finance information.
In addition, the Clean Elections question would require the city to adopt rules that ban corporate contributions to municipal candidates for office and prohibit foreign entities from spending on ballot questions, whether by contributing to campaigns or by making direct expenditures. In June of last year, the Maine legislatureand the governor signed a bill prohibiting corporate contributions to candidates, joining 23 other states and the federal government in the prohibition.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
I.D.E.A.S. 2022 Presented by CoinDesk | October 18-19, 2022Is the future of crypto mobile? Kvhnuke_ believes it is. Join the founder and CEO of myetherwallet at CoinDeskIDEAS as he reveals his vision of “onboarding more users, in more places with mobile phones.” Register:
Read more »
Chicago’s planned casino gets new community advisory group, formed by Mayor LightfootThe planned casino in River West has already received an initial City Council vote of approval.
Read more »
Miami-Dade school board votes against recognizing LGBTQ history monthThe Miami-Dade School Board overwhelming decided against recognizing October as LGBTQ History month which included a measure to teach 12th graders about two Supreme Court cases affecting the LGBTQ community.
Read more »
From offering to help to full-bore attacks: Oz shifts to blitz Fettermanln one of the fall’s biggest races, the Republican Senate contender and his campaign have recently directed a flurry of personal and policy attacks at his Democratic rival.
Read more »