COLUMN | How Democracy Vouchers Transformed Seattle Elections — and What's at Stake on Aug. 5

There's a quiet revolution happening in campaign finance, and Seattle is the epicenter.

Democracy vouchers provide adult registered voters and permanent residents with four $25 vouchers annually to be submitted in support of qualified municipal candidates (mayor, city attorney, City Council). Registered voters automatically receive vouchers by mail; others can apply through the city's website.

Future funding for democracy vouchers is on the upcoming Aug. 5 ballot. Proposition 1 aims to continue funding for democracy vouchers through a tax levy of $45 million paid over 10 years.

Prior to 2017's implementation of the Democracy Voucher Program (DVP), only 1.5% of Seattleites donated to political campaigns. Not surprisingly, overrepresented in this group were white, male property owners from the wealthier parts of town.

The vouchers helped change that. In the 2021 election cycle, nearly 10% of eligible donors used vouchers to help fund their preferred candidates, giving Seattle the highest contribution rate in the nation for political campaigns. This even surpasses New York City, which has a popular, decades-old public campaign finance system based on matching funds. 

Now Seattle's lower-income communities and communities of color are better able to participate earlier in the process of candidate selection and help fuel candidates and issues that matter to them.

Why Democracy Vouchers Matter

Democracy vouchers realign political voice and political money, breaking the monopoly of influence wealthy donors once had. It used to be that 8,000 people largely controlled who made it to the general election in Seattle. Nowadays, that number is upwards of 60,000.

"The beauty about the Seattle program is that it's also open to legal residents. So green card holders, anybody 18 and older, you don't even have to be a registered voter to participate in the program," says Cindy Black, executive director of Fix Democracy First and comanager of the Prop. 1 campaign. "It really opens the door for people to have a voice and feel like they have some power in our electoral process."

Instead of spending hours a day dialing for dollars from wealthy donors, candidates can show up in communities to gather support and funding directly from the people, allowing them to be more accessible.

Political contributions directly translate into higher voter turnout, especially for low-income and BIPOC communities. Gabi Muña, a Seattleite who used a democracy voucher for the first time last year, said, "It felt like I was a part of something larger than myself … I got to influence who shows up on the ballot, rather than just choosing the least of two evils on election day."

What Have We Heard From Opponents of Proposition 1?

The Seattle Times editorial board recently published an editorial urging voters to vote no on Prop. 1. They cite the fact that only 4.72% of voters used vouchers in 2023 as evidence that the program isn't working as intended. They also mention the continued influence of big money and PACs, with independent expenditures still overshadowing the program. Finally, they suggest the program benefits insiders and is susceptible to being gamed by candidates. Let's take a look at each critique:

Critique: Too few Seattleites use the program.

We should always ask, compared to what? Over 4% of voters using democracy vouchers is still three times the rate that Seattleites contributed to campaigns prior to 2017 (the first year vouchers were used). And nationwide, just 1% of Americans contribute to political campaigns. This argument also minimizes the program's actual impact by cherry-picking a single data point from a low-turnout year.

Social scientist and professor Jennifer Heerwig, who co-wrote the book on democracy vouchers, notes that the DVP has driven an "incredible explosion of participation." In the past eight years, more than 100,000 Seattleites have used the program — many of them first-time donors who never supported a candidate before.

Critique: It hasn't stopped big money or PAC influence.

Due to rulings like Citizens United, no public financing program can ban PAC spending in local elections. However, what the DVP has done is help wash out the influence of big money. In 2019, Amazon famously poured $1.5 million into the City Council races, but the candidates they backed in each of the contested races ended up losing. This was only made possible in part by democracy vouchers, and has been widely seen as validation of both the program's popularity and its ability to turn corporate and big money into a liability.

"They lost every contested race, despite the vast money that they had invested in that election cycle," said Estevan Muñoz-Howard, a leader of the group behind the Honest Elections Initiative that successfully brought democracy vouchers to the ballot in 2015. "I know that a major reason for that is because there was an alternative, because there was this narrative that people recognized — that big money is trying to buy local politics — and we don't want that."

Critique: It benefits insiders and incumbents and is susceptible to being gamed by candidates.

Data refutes this claim: A 2022 study published in the Journal of Public Economics found that "incumbents are less likely to run and elections have become more competitive" since vouchers began. Heerwig has also analyzed the data and concludes that twice as many candidates are now running compared to the period before the DVP.

Don't Waste This Tool for Democracy

Despite the success of the DVP, many residents still don't know about the program or forget to use their vouchers. Seattle resident Marilyn Cohen admitted she forgot her vouchers during a busy summer. "I think more promotion and reminders are needed," she said.

When reminded, Cohen said she plans to use them. "It's a little late, but I'm glad I still can."

Candidates recognize the value of this program too, and several have stated that they would not have been able to run for office if it didn't exist. In 2023, all general election candidates used democracy vouchers. The only candidate in 2025 that is not using the DVP is Sara Nelson, although she publicly supports the program. 

Democracy vouchers are one of the most powerful tools we have to exercise our political voice — especially in the South End, which has been historically underrepresented.

Let's renew on Aug. 5 to continue democratizing our local politics, and carry forth the momentum across our state and our country.

As a 501(c)(3) organization, the South Seattle Emerald™ cannot endorse candidates or political campaigns.

Di Zhang is a teacher and librarian in South King County. Passionate about promoting digital citizenship and information literacy in all forms, Di has taught these skills to media organizations, educators and students, librarians, and the general public. He lives in Federal Way with his wife, daughter, and son.