However, what may be surprising is the public's willingness to support major campaign reforms to correct an election system that the Executive Director Chris Heagarty says, "Has gotten so bad that more people actually know this year's American Idol winner than most of their statewide elected officials."
The survey, conducted earlier this month by the Alexandria, Va.-based polling firm American Viewpoint, revealed that most Tar Heel voters (77 percent) believe that the cost of campaigning almost always or frequently keeps qualified people from running for office. Almost 95 percent believe that campaign contributions have an influence on the way their elected officials make decisions. A majority (57 percent) believes these contributions have "a great deal of influence."
"That the cost of running for office keeps qualified people from running is one of the few issues in today's political environment that Republicans, Democrats, conservatives and liberals can all agree on," said Randall Gutermuth, Director of Political Affairs at American Viewpoint.
Candidates who do brave the money chase, by and large suffer from virtual anonymity among many North Carolina voters. The Center's research finds most voters unable to identify several members of the Council of State, the body of elected executive branch officials that includes the Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner and the State Treasurer, among others.
In fact, lack of information on candidates is the number-one reason that North Carolinians don't vote (36 percent), outpacing voter apathy (12 percent), or being turned off by the rise of negative campaigns (9 percent).
"There is something wrong with our election system, when voters know so little about whom they voted into office less than a year ago," said Heagarty. "Equally troubling is that so many voters believe that only wealthy people can run for public office, and they believe that the behavior of politicians is influenced so much by special interest money."
So what did voters know? The Center asked half the respondents of the poll to identify a name and to give the office, if any, that the person held. The Center gave the other half of respondents several statewide elected offices, and some non-political offices, and asked them to name the person in those positions.
A lack of voter familiarity with statewide officials transcended the political spectrum. While Governor Mike Easley was identified correctly by 89 percent of voters surveyed, there was a dramatic drop off when it came to other members of the Council of State.
For example, somewhere between 10 percent and 17 percent of voters could name the Attorney General as Roy Cooper. Newly elected State Auditor Les Merritt was recognized by only two percent. There may be a silver lining for long-time State Insurance Commissioner Jim Long, who is a familiar name to around 20 percent of polled voters, but still ranks two percentage points higher than this year's "American Idol," Carrie Underwood.
"Candidates have an uphill climb to get the voter's attention," said Heagarty, "and when special interests get involved, it really tilts the playing field."
This past election, former state Representative Wayne Goodwin experienced first-hand the growing pressure on candidates to dial for dollars when he ran for N.C. Commissioner of Labor. In the home stretch leading up to Election Day, Goodwin was compelled by the money chase to spend his time on the phone, calling up donors, instead of reaching out to voters.
"We need candidates off the phones and out of the cubicles, and back out meeting the voters," Goodwin said, expressing his support for reforming the campaign system.
Prior to this survey, state Senators Dan Clodfelter (D-Mecklenburg) and Stan Bingham (R-Davidson), along with many of their colleagues introduced Senate Bill 1042. A similar measure, HB 1563, was presented by a bipartisan coalition in the House. Both of these plans, dubbed the "Voter Owned Elections Act," are similar to the new system being used to elect statewide judges in North Carolina.
These proposals would expand the state voter guide to include Council of State candidates. The guide, mailed to all North Carolina voters, presently includes only contenders for the state's appellate courts. The reform plan would also offer limited public financing, on a voluntary basis, to candidates running for posts on the Council of States, excluding the offices of governor and lieutenant governor. Participating candidates would agree to limit their fundraising and campaign spending, while refusing special interest money.
The Center's survey found substantial voter support for a public financing plan. A strong majority of nearly 70 percent favors creating such a system for executive branch offices. Surveyed voters were also given a hypothetical situation in which the only difference between two candidates was that one used taxpayer money in his campaign, while the other used special interest money. Nearly half (49 percent) would favor the candidate who opted into public financing. Only 28 percent sided with the candidate who solely took private funds.
"The negative reaction of special interest trumps that of using tax dollars to fund campaigns, even with the anti-tax sentiment shared by many North Carolina voters," said Gutermuth, pointing out that even Republicans favored the public financing approach.
The state's judicial system of public financing has already made the state a national leader and is a proven success. In 2004, 12 of 16 appellate-level judicial candidates opted into the program, and nearly 4 million copies of the voter guide were mailed to voters across the state.
"The state's judicial voter guide is an invaluable resource for voter information," said Heagarty. "This new research proves that voters also need a reliable source to learn about the candidates for the Council of State. Empowering voters with the information they need, along with stemming the rising tide of campaign spending, are key to increasing voter confidence in our state's democratic system."
The N.C. Center for Voter Education is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization, based in Raleigh, dedicated to increasing voter awareness and participation.
