If you’re registered to vote in Seattle, you’ve probably had a chance to see the Democracy Voucher Program (DVP) in action: a blue and white envelope arrives in your mailbox with a small stack of $25 coupons; you, the voter, are invited to spend them on any candidate you like. It’s Seattle’s own, first-in-the-nation public campaign financing program. And Proposition 1 asks if we want to renew the levy that funds it for another decade.
The new levy would be funded through a property tax, and it’s expected to raise $45 million over 10 years, costing the average homeowner $12.20 a year.
By most metrics, the DVP has been a roaring success. It makes primaries more competitive and campaigning accessible to more diverse candidates, and the vast majority of people running for office in Seattle participate in the program. More than 106,000 Seattleites have slipped their vouchers to candidates, and according to the City, through 2024, we’ve distributed more than $10 million to local campaigns.
It’s difficult to find opponents to the DVP (the opposition statement is written by right-wing radio host Ari Hoffman). But supporters of the program still have complaints. The most common concern is that when we introduced the Democracy Voucher Program (which limits the amount of money a candidate can accept), spending from lobbyists skyrocketed (which remained unlimited). But lobbying spending has shot up across the region, not just here in Seattle. And even if it did push lobbyists to up their game, it’s also one of the few tools we have to combat them.
There’s a reason that there isn’t any organized opposition to Proposition 1. It’s a new, promising program that deserves time to shake out its minimal kinks and prove to other cities that it’s worth it. Our democracy is already under attack. Now isn’t the time to defund one of the projects that makes democracy just a little bit more accessible. Vote yes on Proposition 1.
The average homeowner in Seattle with an escrow on their mortgage now needs to pay an additional $2000 a year just to keep their mortgage from skyrocketing. Love this only $12.00 a year extortion tactic.
Liberal progressives are starting to become really awful people.
*thereabouts, from all the cumulative property taxes.
Vote NO!
Hell no
The only ones who seemingly benefitted from this was the numerous orgs who were created to collect vouchers for candidates.
@4
Don’t forget Grant Houston who didn’t get any votes but somehow managed to get a record number of vouchers.
You present no evidence that elections have become more competitive (more candidates running in more races.)
You indicate that only a small percentage of Seattleites participate (106,000 over 10 years).
This tax increases housing costs and forces taxpayers to support candidates financially with whom they do not agree.
I’d sure as hell cancel the program if it were my choice!
Ah yes, the strange case of Andrew Grant Houston, ostensibly a mayoral candidate in 2021. He redeemed 13,853 vouchers for total of $346,325 in taxpayer provided campaign funds, but then in the election he only got 5,485 votes. Seems like his campaign was terrible at politics but great at voucher harvesting.
While, I broadly support the concept, the implementation is appalling and shows true disrespect for optimizing use of tax payer funds. In 2023, less than 5% of vouchers sent out were redeemed, which could be because people don’t really care and because these vouchers are sent out long before any candidates have been announced for any election. I know I received my vouchers months ago, but have no idea where they are – likely they’ve been recylcled. Now that I know who the candidates are, I have no idea where the vouchers. I seem to remember reading that when this was brought up to the elections board, they said that they would look into. I guess they didn’t bother. When a tax-payer funded idea clearly doesn’t work, doubling down on it is not the way forward. I’m voting NO on this one.
@Sipa: You can access your replacement vouchers here: https://www.seattle.gov/democracyvoucher/voucher-replacement. And if you do just a little searching on the same website, you can register to receive and use your vouchers digitally, so you never need to wonder where you put them again. Easy!
@WereBackBaby: no evidence that elections have become more competitive?? Have you paid attention to any of our municipal races recently? Nearly every candidate uses the program and we have a ton more candidates for office. It’s not even close. This is one way in which the program has excelled without question.
Seattle now has the highest rate of donor participation in the country, and it’s entirely because of this program. Back in 2015, only ~1.5% of the city’s population gave to municipal campaigns – dominated by wealthy donors. In 2021 it was ~10%. You might not think that’s significant but it’s a massive increase.