Chase Foster of Democracy North Carolina writes in the Raleigh News & Observer that the presidential public financing system is "clunky, outmoded" but very necessary provided it gets some updates. Foster suggests looking to North Carolina's Voter Owned Elections and other full public financing programs at the state level as a guide for updates that keep candidates running with public financing competitive against those running with private money.

Maimounah Masudi praises the Fayetteville Observer in this letter for their support of the efforts to win and expand the Voter Owned Elections public financing program in North Carolina which Masudi says "is crucial to the election process, because it is designed to allow the average citizen to be put on a level playing field with big money donors."

Fifteen candidates running for office in North Carolina for offices eligible to participate in the Voter-Owned Elections full public financing program are running using the program. Candidates for Appellate and Supreme Court judgeships, as well as candidates for State Auditor, State Insurance Commissioner, and Superintendent of Public Instruction are eligible.

Portland's Voter-Owned Elections public financing program for their mayoral and city council races is set to have a good year with a record seven candidates qualifying for public funding and agreeing to spending limits.

In his years of work tracking money in politics, working to win full public financing of campaigns in states around the country and in his hometown of Portland, Oregonian Jeff Malachowsky has aimed to replace the politics of big money and small turnout with small donors and robust civic participation. In the essay that follows, Jeff reflects on Portland's Voter Owned public financing program and the benefits he sees it bringing to his city.

Hey, this must have worked! County Council members on Hawai'i's Big Island have endorsed a plan to try out a full public financing system for their races in 2010. This is a good step forward after many years of public support for a Clean Elections-style system met with reticence on the part of legislators to make substantive changes to campaign laws.