The Anchorage Daily News reminds Alaskans about the Clean Elections initiative on the August 26th ballot and strongly encourages them to vote yes, and pressure their legislators to support a Clean Elections program. The editorial lays out the particulars of the system, addresses the usual concerns, and says Clean Elections will "help inoculate Alaska against future political corruption."

As one of the papers that's been reporting on the huge Veco bribery scandal that's touched many in state government as well as Alaska's Congressional delegation, the Daily News is pretty familiar with both the extent of Alaska's corruption problem, and the demoralizing effect it has on the relationship between constituents and government. No wonder they're so enthusiastic about Clean Elections coming to town.

The initiative, which qualified for the ballot last week, would transform Alaska politics and give Alaska's state government back to the people it is supposed to serve.

In the Veco scandal, Alaskans saw how Bill Allen used his checkbook and his company's money to become the state's most influential non-elected power broker.

While Allen and his allies broke various laws, the kind of corruption revealed in the Veco scandal is almost inevitable. That's because our current election financing system asks elected officials to perform unnatural acts.