NEW YORK—Political campaign donations by text message will be allowed in New York City elections starting in 2016. City Council passed a bill allowing such donations Tuesday, Nov. 26. The bill aims to make it easier to send small donations, and thus encourage more voters to exercise their political influence.
Similar to text message donations for disaster relief, the payment will be processed by cellphone companies. Cell carriers will add the donation to the customer’s bill and then forward the donation to the campaign.
The bill allows voters to send text donations of up to $99 for each candidate per election cycle. The contributor sending the donation by text will have to certify he or she will personally pay for the contribution. Such donations will be eligible for matching funds.
“I would like to have as many small donors as possible. And I love to use technology to do it,” said council member and bill sponsor Gale Brewer on Tuesday before the vote. Brewer has frequently worked to incorporate new technologies into initiatives to strengthen good government.
Brewer cited the example of California, which legalized text message donations to political campaigns in October 2011. In June 2012 the Federal Election Commission decided to allow text message donations in federal campaigns. One estimate calculated President Obama raised more than $1 million via text messages in 2012. Following California, Maryland and Texas also authorized political donations via text message.
The difference for New York is to incorporate the element of matching funds—which the city matches at a ration of 6-to-1 for donations of $175 or less. How that will work exactly, the Campaign Finance Board (CFB) still has to sort out. But Brewer said the board has assured her that donations by SMS that are eligible for matching funds will be matched.
“The City’s landmark campaign finance program is designed to reduce the role of special interests and expand the role of smaller contributions from city residents. This legislation will help candidates and the program keep pace with current technology,” said CFB spokesman Matt Sollars.
Efforts to strengthen citizen engagement and head off special interest influence in elections redoubled after the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, which allow corporations to make unlimited donations to political campaigns.
That legislation aims to further encourage political candidates to engage with as many voters as possible, listen to their concerns, and win their support rather than spend time fundraising from big donors.
The issue of family plans where a device user and bill payer are not the same person will also need to be worked out. The Campaign Finance Board must sort out how to certify who is actually contributing. The bill passed 41–0. It will take effect a year after the mayor signs it.
The council also passed a separate bill to have the Board of Elections publish ballots online ahead of elections. Voters have complained ballots are confusing and difficult to navigate. Certain elements of ballot design are mandated by state law and cannot be changed. To make it easier for voters, the board has already been publishing ballots online. The law ensures that early publishing continues.
