Litigation

Hawaii Tests Public Financing of Elections

By Peter Hardin

Although a U.S. Supreme Court order has raised questions about the future of some state programs for public financing of elections, Hawaii is proceeding with a test of public financing this year.

In June, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order (see Gavel Grab) that blocked release of matching dollars to publicly funded candidates in Arizona, disrupting political campaigns there. But the high court has not decided whether to hear an appeal in the underlying Arizona dispute, and its order does not apply to other states.

In Hawaii, a public financing experiment will start with the Hawaii County Council election in the fall, according to an Associated Press article. Sixteen candidates had applied to qualify for public financing before a recent deadline. If the trial plan proves successful, public financing could be expanded to more county or statewide elections.

Public financing of campaigns helps remove the corrupting influence of money in them, advocates for the plan say. To learn about public financing of judicial elections, see Justice at Stake’s issues page on the topic.

Full post as published by The Gavel on July 05, 2010 (boomark / email).