Seattle's voucher system diminished the influence of large donors

After Seattle introduced Democracy Vouchers in 2017, the city saw a rise in the share of campaign funds per cycle coming from small donors (≤$200). Researchers found that contributions in cities in Washington and California saw little change in donor composition.

Share of campaign contributions from small donors

*The authors compared Seattle to other large cities in Washington and California to approximate what would have happened in the absence of the program.
Note: Contributions are averaged per race within election cycles.
Source: Griffith and Noonen (2022) Download imageCreated with Datawrapper