April 22, 2016
As a member of the Honest Elections Seattle coalition, Voqal Fund grantee Every Voice successfully worked with businesses and organizations from Seattle and all over the country to pass ballot initiative I-122.
Initiative I-122 will limit the influence of money on local policymakers in several ways. First, it limits the amount of money corporate interests can spend on lobbying. Second, it ensures candidates focus less on the needs of big money donors and spend more time listening to voters by setting strict contribution limits in all city races. Third, it increases accountability and transparency in local government through campaign reporting and disclosure reform. Finally, it gives ordinary people a stronger voice in local government by enabling more people to run viable campaigns against big money candidates. For more specifics on the law check out the full text here.
Based in Washington D.C., Every Voice is a national organization that works to build the political power necessary to create a democracy where every voice is heard and money doesn’t determine political influence. It does this by running campaigns that support champions of reform. Furthermore, Every Voice believes “it is possible to inspire frustrated and cynical Americans to vote on issues of money-in-politics and that politicians will be more motivated to work for reform when they see the impact at the ballot box.”
Understanding the need for a coordinated effort to make Seattle citizens’ voices heard, Every Voice ran an integrated media and field campaign to ensure the public was educated enough to pass this initiative. Thanks to Voqal’s financial support, it was ultimately successful in its efforts. Going forward, Every Voice is dedicated to making sure that this important piece of campaign finance reform legislation is successful and supports policymakers and key stakeholders as the implementation process unfolds. Voqal applauds these efforts and looks forward to seeing similar efforts succeed across the nation.