California Fair Elections Campaign Statement on Today's Field Poll
By Press Release
LOS ANGELES, CA - The California Fair Elections Campaign
released the following statement from Chair Trent Lange
after the release of today's Field Poll:
"Today's Field Poll is more evidence that Californians
are ready to change the way we finance California
elections. The California Fair Elections Act on the June
2010 ballot would do start to make that change, and so
represents the change voters want and the reform
California sorely needs.
"California voters have been fed up with Sacramento
politics for some time, and today's Field Poll shows
approval ratings of our elected officials have sunk to
new lows. There are a number of justified reasons for
voters' discontent, and their belief that Sacramento
kowtows to special interests who give them huge campaign
contributions, at the expense of voters, is a big one.
"The California Fair Elections Act will begin restoring
voter confidence in our democracy by enabling politicians
to get out of the fundraising game and to focus squarely
on solving our problems. With the California Fair
Elections Act, voters can be assured that elected
officials are representing the people's interests, not
the special interests'."
Authored by Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Oakland) and signed by
Gov. Schwarzenegger, AB 583, the California Fair Elections
Act, would establish a voluntary pilot project for
California's secretary of state races in 2014 and 2018.
Candidates will be allowed to qualify for public financing
if they agree to strict spending prohibitions and raise a
large number of $5 contributions from Californians. If
established, this pilot program would be funded primarily
by fees on lobbyists, lobbying firms and lobbyist
employers, who have some of the lowest fees in the country.
The initiative aims to mitigate the influence of big
donors and special interests in elections so that voters
can start to feel that the government works for their
benefit instead of that of big campaign contributors.
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