Voter owned elections

==Voter Owned Elections==
===Background ===
With Voter Owned Elections, public money helps to fund the campaigns of candidates who demonstrate a wide base of support by collecting many small donations. In exchange for the public funding for the campaign, these candidates agree to limit their private fundraising. Voter Owned Elections is also known as public financing of campaigns. 
This reform aims to ensure that candidates are accountable to the public, rather than private interests, and creates a situation where all serious candidates have enough resources to get their message to voters.
===Public financing examples include: ===
* San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors races
* Los Angeles’ mayoral and city council races
* New York City’s mayoral and city council races, 
* Arizona and Maine’s state elections, including elections for governor.
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* Planks from Mark Rauterkus on voter owned elections
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===The S.F. Mayor's Race:===
Candidates must receive $25,000 from at least 250 eligible contributors by the 70th day before the election. Only the first $100 of each donation will count towards reaching the $25,000 limit. The qualification level is set high enough so that only candidates with a wide base of public support will receive public campaign financing.
Only donations from San Francisco individuals will count towards the public matching funds.
Qualifying candidates will receive initial funding of $50,000. Then for the next $100,000 raised, candidates will receive matching funds of $4 for every $1 they raise. For the next $400,000 after that a candidate will be given $1 for every $1 they raise.
Overall, the candidate will receive a maximum of $850,000 from the city as a match for having raised $525,000 in private donations, for a maximum expenditure of $1,375,000.
To receive public financing, candidates agree to spend no more than $1,375,000 on their campaign.
If the sum of any candidate's spending, plus any independent expenditures made on their behalf, goes above $1,375,000, publicly financed candidates will have their expenditure limits raised to what their opponent has spent.
Independent expenditures which are opposing a participating candidate will trigger the raising of that candidate's expenditure limit by the amount of the independent expenditure.
Participating candidates who have their expenditure limits raised will continue to have contributions matched at the $1:$1 rate, above the initial public disbursement of $850,000, pending available funds, up to the candidate's revised expenditure limit.
The cost will be CAPPED at $2 per San Francisco resident per year from the city’s general fund.
Under existing city law, both participating and non-participating candidates are limited to accepting donations of no more than $500 from any individual or organization
Participating candidates must participate in at least three debates.
category: democracy category: Planks_from_elsewhere