Chapel Hill is officially the third municipality to institute publicly financed elections. Chapel Hill News guest columnist Cristina Chenlo praises the program, known as Voter-owned Elections."July 6 started the filing period to run for Chapel Hill Town Council and mayor. This year, for the first time ever, candidates have the option to participate in an innovative program called Voter-Owned Elections. What does this mean? It means that candidates can spend less time chasing campaign dollars from big donors and special interests and more time listening to voters and discussing solutions to the town's problems. It also means that anyone interested in running for office but worried about the money issue now has a chance for a viable campaign without going into debt, spending countless hours dialing for dollars or pitching to special interests."