What democracy vouchers paid for in Seattle politics

Plus legal fights over ADUs and some recommended reading

A week ago we brought you a look at all the late special-interest money flowing into the Seattle City Council races, which is largely swamping the campaign finance limits that are part of the city's democracy voucher system. But that doesn’t mean all that taxpayer cash on the front end had zero effect.

When Seattle voters passed the citizen-led initiative that gave us democracy vouchers in 2015, the four $25 packets folks get in the mail every odd-numbered election year to send to the candidate of their choosing were meant to do three things: 1) diversify the city’s slate of candidates, 2) make races more competitive, and 3) diversify the campaign money that’s pouring in. The results on that front show the program’s been sort of successful.

At a presentation to the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee on Friday, testifiers reaffirmed what you probably already know from your ballots. There are a lot more Seattleites running for public office lately. 

Here’s why you should care about this: Elections have consequences, and changing the rules by which money flows into elections likewise has consequences.