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For immediate release.
Mar. 21, 2001
Contact: Jesse Rutledge, N.C. Center for Voter Education, 877-258-6837 (toll free)

Center for Voter Education Publishes Soft Money Q&As

RALEIGH - As part of its program to raise citizen awareness about the role of money in politics, the N.C. Center for Voter Education has published a free booklet of questions and answers about “soft money”, the loosely regulated and completely unlimited campaign contributions made by corporations, trade unions and wealthy individuals.

The booklet is available to the general public and can be obtained by calling 877-258-6837.

“With campaign finance reform on the national stage, we thought this was a good time to try and get more people involved in the issue,” said Jesse Rutledge, the Center’s spokesman. “The McCain-Feingold bill may be the best known piece of legislation to come out of Washington in 20 years, but many people are still hazy on what it’s all about. The booklet boils the debate down to simple terms everyone can understand.”

The Center for Voter Education estimates that over $9 million in soft money was put into the 2000 North Carolina elections. Rutledge said the North Carolina Legislature should pass a soft money ban of its own, and not wait to see what comes out of the debate in Washington.

“People are very cynical that real reform will ever come out of Washington, D.C.,” Rutledge continued. He said something must be done about the unlimited contributions, many of which come from out-of-state, that drown out the voice of smaller contributors and voters generally. “The problem with soft money is that it’s loophole money,” he said. “It’s a legal way to get around our campaign limits. How can the average voter match the financial clout of the Fortune 500 or the big labor unions?”

The N.C. Center for Voter Education is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization based in Raleigh dedicated to improving the quality and responsiveness of North Carolina’s election system. Former U.S. Senator Robert Morgan serves as chairman of the board.

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