How It Works
Election campaign fund: Your tax dollars at work
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- You look at your federal income tax return and you ponder that box marked "Presidential Election Campaign."
With one checkmark, you could contribute $3 to that fund.
What's it all about? This week's How it Work tells you.
The Presidential Election Campaign Fund, as it is properly called, is the government's way of largely financing the race for the White House. Candidates who meet eligibility requirements and agree to limits on campaign spending qualify for matching funds from the pot of money.
In the six presidential elections between 1976 and 1996, $890.9 million was distributed. A report prepared for Congress found the money broke down this way: $256.6 million to 74 primary candidates, $92.7 million to the 2 major parties for 12 nominating conventions, and $541.6 million for 12 major party nominees and 2 independents in the general election.
That same report -- prepared by the Congressional Research Service -- found that the fund is popular among White House candidates. Of about 65 serious presidential candidates in that same time period, only three chose not to participate: John Connally in 1980, Ross Perot in 1992 and Steve Forbes in 1996.
But times are tough for the fund.
This election year, three major candidates opted out: President Bush, and Democrats John Kerry and Howard Dean.
And with each passing year, fewer and fewer taxpayers are choosing to contribute to the fund.
Participation peaked in 1978, when 28.9 percent of all returns were filed with the "yes" box checked, according to the Internal Revenue Service. But last year, the number stood at 10.6 percent.
The reason for the drop? It's unclear.
Some experts point to public dissatisfaction with the political process or computer tax-preparation programs that discourage "yes" votes.
The Congressional Research Service report cites a general public unease -- as registered by polls -- with public financing, and also points to confusion about the fund's impact on one's taxes.
But checking the box won't affect your taxes either way.
Checking "yes" won't add to your overall tax payment. And checking "no" won't get you a bigger refund.
CNN's Claire Brinberg contributed to this report.
