Preventing Election Buyout

Voting is a foundational aspect of democracy, making it necessary to protect its ability to represent the will of an entire population. Private fiscal resources allocated for financing elections directly work against this ideal, undermining the integrity of election equity. Monetary arms races between candidates for the same position require aspiring elected officials to cater to large donors. Resulting in substantial contributors receiving a disproportionate amount of influence over the electoral process, hindering the general populace from gaining equal access to decision-makers. This unethical system is permitted by unrestrictive campaign finance laws, weakening trust in democratic representative governance. The following proposals will facilitate just elections and mitigate power imbalances created by private funding:

1. A Semi-Proportional Distribution of Campaign Donations. This would create a neutral allocation of funds, where all donations to a specific race would be split as follows:
   1. 30% will be sent directly to the intended candidate(s);
   2. 55% will reside in a pool to be distributed among candidates based on their proportion of individual donors, encouraging participation by mitigating the impact of concentrated wealth.
   3. 15% will be utilized to fund the race’s electoral operations. This would include free public facilities, procurement of necessary materials, investment in secure, transparent voting infrastructure, and more.

2. Contribution Limits. Individual contributions of up to $3,500 are permitted to candidate committees, and $7,000 to PACs. PACs may contribute as much as $7,000 to every candidate committee.

By restricting wealthy donors’ contributions and altering funding allocation, individuals are encouraged to engage in a system and trust their democratic institutions and elected representatives. This new method of financing campaigns enhances   democratic accountability by implementing transparency and responsiveness into campaigns. It is only when citizens perceive their political participation as valuable and effective that democracy is fostered.