About Us

The Indiana Clean Elections Coalition is a collaborative effort by organizations and individuals to support election campaigns financed by public funds, not private donations.

About Clean Elections

What are Clean Elections?

Clean elections, or the public financing of political campaigns, are a proven reform to give voters more control over government, make politicians accountable to constituents rather than campaign contributors, save taxpayers money and level the playing field by giving all citizens a fair shot at getting elected.

In light of pay-to-play scandals that have rocked Congress and statehouses nationwide in recent years, many voters are eager for this kind of significant change. In fact, three out of four voters support a voluntary system of publicly financed campaigns, according to a June 2006 poll by a bipartisan polling firm.

How Clean Elections work

Under a clean elections system, a candidate raises a threshold sum of small contributions. Once that amount is raised, the candidate gets a grant in exchange for an agreement to raise no more money. In Connecticut, for example, which passed a voluntary Clean Elections law in 2005, a state senate candidate would have to raise $15,000 in contributions of $100 or less. That candidate would then receive a $35,000 grant for his or her primary and an additional $85,000 to continue to the general election. Candidates would be eligible for additional matching funds to keep pace with a privately funded candidate who outspent them, or to deal with independent expenditures that target them.

Experience with Clean Election systems in the states cost in the range of $2 to $6 per voting age resident per year. Taxpayers win because elected officials serve the public's agenda, not the interests of lobbyists, unions and corporations.

Which states have Clean Elections?

Common Cause and our coalition partners are working hard to enact Clean Elections for congressional races. We have tripled the support in Congress for this reform in the last year alone. But as usual, the states are way ahead of the federal government on this reform. Seven states and two cities already have voluntary Clean Elections in place: Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Vermont, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Portland, Oregon. Common Cause and coalition partners are also currently working to pass Clean Elections in Maryland. Hundreds of candidates from both major parties have used the system and each election cycle brings more "Clean Election" candidates. Arizona's governor, Janet Napolitano, was elected under the system. About 80 percent of Maine's legislators used Clean Election funding for their campaigns.

Click here to read what both parties are saying about Clean Elections!