Ellington

What if our elections were "voter-owned," instead of being owned by the big money powers—would that make you feel better about voting?

The good news is that we can have voter-owned elections, if we get to doing some serious agitating and organizing at a grassroots level. That's what a great group of folks in North Carolina have just done, starting with their state courts. Last month, a coalition called North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections won the most sweeping judicial reform in our country: a state law providing public financing for candidates to North Carolina's top two courts.

The judiciary, which holds life and death power over us—as well as the power to rule over everything from water quality to job discrimination to privacy,is supposed to be impartial. But in states like North Carolina, where the top judges are elected, such special interests as HMOs, insurance companies, lawyers and corporate polluters have learned that they can buy the partiality of judges by financing their election campaigns.

Fed up with this theft of justice, the clean election coalition launched a two-year campaign to pass the "Judicial Campaign Reform Act." Under it, court candidates who agree to accept zero special-interest money can get up to $137,000 in public funding for the primary election and up to $600,000 for the general election.

While Republican legislators were adamantly opposed to this money-cleansing reform, the coalition went to the people with informational meetings and organizing drives, rallying mass support, including winning the backing of 70 percent of Republican voters for public financing. The bill passed narrowly in the House, by a wide margin in the senate, and the governor has signed it, so the voters now own North Carolina's court elections.

You, too, can push for public financing of elections at any level of state or local government you choose. To learn how, call Public Campaign at (202) 293-0222.

Jim Hightower is a best-selling author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. To order his books and CDs or to schedule him for a speech, visit http://www.jimhightower.com To subscribe to his monthly newsletter, the Hightower Lowdown, call 866-271-4900.