Massachusetts Question 3 (2002)

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Massachusett's Question 3 (2002) was a non-binding initiative referred by the legislature that appeared on the ballot in 2002 in order to determine whether the people of Massachusetts favor or oppose taxpayer money being used to fund political campaigns for public office. As a non-binding initiative, the voting results would serve only to advise legislators and would not establish a law, repeal a law or bind the legislature.

Supporters

The initiative was supported by Common Cause for Massachusetts, a non-partisan citizen's organization working for open government. They argued that the initiative was a deceptively worded attempt to repeal the Clean Elections Law by showing that Massachsuetts voters disprove of taxpayer money funding political campaigns. The organization argued that the Clean Elections Law increased competition for public office and reduced corporate special interest money in campaigns by providing a limited amount of public financing for candidates who accept strict campaign spending and contribution limits. The organization claimed that the initiative was an attempt by incumbent legislators to avoid having to compete for their jobs.

Opponents

The initiative was opposed by the Honorable Francis J. Larkin, who claimed that taxpayer funding of political campaigns is a wasteful use of limited public funds. He claimed that such funding could cost taxpayers over $100 million per four-year election cycle, and that there were no safeguards in place to prevent fraud and misuse of taxpayer money. He argued that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the campaigns of politicians they don't necessarily support or endorse.

Status

The final results showed that 517,285 voters disapproved of taxpayer funding for political campaigns, while 1,462,435 voters approved of it.

See also

External links

References

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