In 2022, Oakland voters overwhelmingly approved sweeping changes to the city’s campaign finance law to reduce the influence of big money in elections.

The heart of Measure W was an initiative called Democracy Dollars . In a nutshell, the city would give qualifying voters vouchers worth $100 to give to political candidates of their choosing. The goal was to level the political playing field by giving lower-income residents the ability to financially support candidates. The measure also lowered how much money people can give to political campaigns to curb the influence of wealthy donors.

Democracy Dollar vouchers were supposed to flow into elections starting in 2024. But a budget crisis in 2023 prompted the mayor and city council to delay the initiative. This pattern repeated itself

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