The League of Women Voters was founded on the principle of increasing informed citizen participation in government. During the past 20 years, we have become more and more concerned about two trends -- the sharp decline in voter turnout and the skyrocketing costs of political campaigns. We believe these two trends are connected. As campaign spending increases, the average citizen has begun to feel that big money is what counts in politics today and that people without great wealth simply don't matter.

The single most important cause of the increased cost of running for political office today is the need to pay for all of those 30-second ads on television. In this election year, more than one million political ads are expected to run on TV across the country at a cost of over $600 million. These ads could be called the junk food of politics, and the steady diet of TV sound bites breeds disinterested, cynical voters.

West Virginia's voter turnout numbers are among the lowest in the country. In the 1998 election, only 25 percent of the state's voting age population went to the polls on Election Day. In the last presidential election in 1996, only 45 percent voted. That's why the League of Women Voters of West Virginia was eager to accept the invitation from the Alliance for Better Campaigns to become a state partner.

We have joined in the national Alliance in calling on the television industry to air nightly candidate forums on each of the 30 days prior to this year's Primary and General elections. The concept of the voluntary "5/30" standard originated with a 1998 White House advisory panel of broadcasters and public interest advocates.

We strongly believe that a change in the way we conduct our political campaigns will begin to bring citizens back into the political process, and the response from other groups we have asked to join us proves that many other West Virginians agree. Organizations making up the West Virginia Alliance for Better Campaigns include the ARP of West Virginia, American Association of University Women, Common Cause of West Virginia, Department of Political Science at Marshall University, League of Women Voters of West Virginia, University of Charleston Byrd Institute for Public Policy, West Virginia Council of Churches, West Virginia Council of Jewish Women, West Virginia Education Associatioin, West Virginia NAACP and the West Virginia State College Institute of Local Government.

As the 2000 election approaches, we believe that many other groups and individuals will endorse our efforts to open up the airwaves and break the chokehold that money holds on our political process.

Karen Lukens, Coordinator

WV Alliance for Better Campaigns

Charleston