Fact Sheet:
The Public Campaign Fund
The Public Campaign Fund offers public campaign financing to candidates for the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals.
The Fund pays for the state judicial voter guide, which features all of the candidates for the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals (regardless of their participation in the Public Campaign Fund.)
The guide is produced by the State Board of Elections and, in addition to being online, is mailed to voters across North Carolina in the weeks before the general election.
About 4 million copies of the state judicial voter guide were mailed to homes in the weeks before the 2006 general election.
The Fund was used for the first time in the 2004 election. That year,
12 of the 16 candidates for the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals opted into the public financing program, with four of the five winners participating.
In 2006, eight of the 12 candidates opted into the Fund, with five of the six winners participating.
To qualify for the Fund, a candidate must demonstrate a reasonable level of public support by raising a certain amount of qualifying funds. These qualifying funds must come in contributions between $10 and $500 from at least 350 registered North Carolina voters. After qualifying, participating candidates stop fund raising.
Funds from the Public Campaign Fund can be used only for legitimate campaign purposes. Any funds remaining after the election must be returned to the Public Campaign Fund.
Financing for the Public Campaign Fund comes from various sources, including a surcharge on privilege license renewals for attorneys.
Perhaps most notably, financing for the Public Campaign Fund is determined via a check-off option on the state income tax form.
For each person who marks "yes" to the Public Campaign Fund option on the state income tax form, $3 is designated for the Public Campaign Fund. This is not a contribution or an additional tax, but earmarks $3 of taxes already being collected by the state. It does not raise the amount of taxes paid, nor reduce the amount of refund received.
According to a 2005 study commissioned by the nonpartisan N.C. Center for Voter Education, 74 percent of North Carolina voters support the state's system of public financing for judicial campaigns. (See the news release on this study.)
A study commissioned after the 2004 general election by the N.C. Center for Voter Education found that 52 percent of voters recalled receiving the state judicial voter guide. Of those, 78 percent found it very or somewhat useful. (See the news release on this study.)
The Public Campaign Fund was created in 2002 by the Judicial Campaign Reform Act, passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mike Easley.
For more information on the Public Campaign Fund, please contact the N.C. Center for Voter Education.
© Copyright 2010 N.C. Center for Voter Education
3933 Arrow Dr.
Suite 101
Raleigh, NC 27612
877.258.6837
www.ncvotered.com