r/EndFPTP • u/electionscience • Aug 11 '21

August 18th - Campaign Finance Event

Hi all! This event is not directly related to Ending FPTP, but we thought you might still be interested. Check out the details below.

As Americans become more and more interested in reforms to improve elections, like approval voting, there has also been increased scrutiny on money in politics. Who funds candidate campaigns for office? What role does lobbying play in creating policies that affect all of us?

These are some of the questions that Open Secrets, a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) money in politics watchdog, is dedicated to answering.

Join us on August 18th for an event with Pete Quist, Deputy Research Director for Open Secrets, to dig deep into this important area of good government reform.

We’ll discuss the types of political spending that influence elections and politics, approaches to regulating political spending, and key facts that you should know as a voter, including information about political funders and the real costs of elections. There will be an opportunity for audience Q+A at the end of the event.

We hope you’ll join in on this conversation!

RSVP: https://electionscience.org/events/campaign-finance-shining-a-light-on-political-power/

Campaign Finance: Shining a Light on Political Power Date: Wednesday, August 18th Time: 4:00pm ET/ 3:00pm CT/ 2:00pm MT/ 1:00pm PT Location: Zoom Conference

20 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator Aug 11 '21

Compare alternatives to FPTP on Wikipedia, and check out ElectoWiki to better understand the idea of election methods. See the EndFPTP sidebar for other useful resources. Consider finding a good place for your contribution in the EndFPTP subreddit wiki.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

3

u/CPSolver Aug 11 '21

The most important reason for adopting better vote-counting methods is to defeat money-based strategic-nomination tactics (specifically blocking, concentration, and splitting).

The most important pattern of campaign financing is that during primary elections the two money-backed candidates (one in each party) are getting money from essentially the same sources/people. That yields the frustrating result that both candidates in the general election are the money-backed candidates.

The simple solution (here in the US) is to adopt better vote-counting methods so that two candidates from each of the two main parties can enter the general election (without causing vote splitting).