This chapter shall be known as the Sacramento County Election
Reform Act of 1986.
(SCC 672 § 1, 1986; SCC
683 § 1, 1987)
The people find and declare the following:
A.
Candidates
are now frequently dependent on large contributions from wealthy individuals
and interest groups for campaign finances. Individuals and interest
groups who make large contributions frequently enjoy disproportionate
access to public officials and influence in government decision making.
Large contributions impede the solicitation or making of small contributions.
B.
Inherent
in the high cost of election campaigning is the problem of improper
influence, real or potential, exercised by campaign contributors over
elected officials.
C.
It
is the policy of this County to foster broad-based citizen involvement
in financing election campaigns.
D.
It
is the policy of this County to protect the integrity of the electoral
process.
E.
The
best interests of the citizens of this County are served by reducing
the direct and indirect costs of campaigns. Substantial indirect costs
accrue to the public when special interests pass on legislative and
campaign related expenses thereby increasing the costs of goods and
services to the public.
F.
Individuals
have a right to expend their own personal resources without limitation
to advance their own candidacy, pursuant to the guarantee of freedom
of speech encompassed in the First Amendment of the United States
Constitution, and the public has a right to ensure the fullest and
most thorough discussion and debate of public issues during an election
campaign by expending public funds to secure the widest possible dissemination
of information from diverse and antagonistic sources to ensure an
unfettered interchange of ideas.
(SCC 672 § 1, 1986; SCC
683 § 1, 1987; SCC 1642 § 1,
2019)
The people also enact this chapter to accomplish the following
purposes:
A.
To
foster an orderly political forum in which individuals may express
themselves effectively.
B.
To
place realistic and enforceable limits on the amounts of money that
may be contributed to political campaigns for elective County office.
C.
To
secure the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse
and antagonistic sources to ensure an unfettered interchange of ideas.
D.
To
limit the use of loans and credit in the financing of political campaigns
for elective County office.
(SCC 672 § 1, 1986; SCC
683 § 1, 1987; SCC 1642 § 1,
2019)
