20 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2018
POINT OF VIEW
IMPROVING DEMOCRACY:
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
By STEVE BELLONE
Suffolk County Executive
With campaign season ramping
up and the mid-term elections on
the horizon, now is the perfect time
to take a good, hard look into our
election process. In this amazing experiment
called democracy, we have
organized systems at every level of
government designed to allow equal
opportunities for a wide swath of candidates
to enter the political process.
That process, however, has become
disproportionately political. So much
so that voters are left with choices
that are often decided by a convoluted
system fed by political party bosses
and special interest groups whose interest
in public service comes second
to their self-serving principles.
The process has become a gateway
to backdoor deals and at times corruption.
It has eroded the public’s
trust in our political system, leaving
them to feel disenfranchised with the
entire process. The result is low voter
turnout and a rarely challenged status
quo. The numbers bear this out. In
the 2016 general election, only 57 percent
of eligible voters participated,
making voter turnout in New York
State 41st in the nation.
Unless the system changes, the
pathway to democratic elections
will remain entrenched in their dysfunction.
This is why Suffolk County
enacted campaign finance reform legislation
modeled after New York City’s
election laws. It establishes a 4-to-1
public match with individual contribution
limits and a new Campaign
Finance Board to ensure compliance.
By drafting this legislation, Suffolk
became the first municipality statewide,
with the exception of New York
City, to establish public financing of
elections, effectively expanding
opportunity for ordinary citizens to
run competitive races for public office.
Here is how it works: a candidate who
runs for county legislator and receives
at least $5,000 in contributions of $250
or less will be eligible to participate in a
4-to-1 public matching system. This will
even the playing field for candidates
who do not have access to deep pockets
and special interests, including those
who challenge incumbents, who traditionally
enjoy deeper war chests than
brand new candidates do.
The influx of new and varied candidates
who have real shots at being heard
by the constituency will go a long way
toward reinvigorating voters, rebuilding
their trust, and bringing them back
into the democratic system.
We hope that by our example, other
counties and municipalities across
the state will implement their own
versions of campaign finance systems
and that ultimately, word will spread to
Albany, where a comprehensive public
finance bill will see the light of day.
This will even the playing field for
candidates who do not have deep pockets.
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