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A infografia mostra os custos crescentes das eleições nos EUA desde 2000.
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ELEIÇÕES NOS EUA

Custos crescentes das eleições nos EUA

By Duncan Mil

August 20, 2020 - As eleições presidenciais e para o Congresso de 2020 nos EUA deverão exceder o recorde de $6.290 milhões gastos em 2012. As campanhas angariaram mais de $4.770 milhões até agora* – meses antes da votação.

President Donald Trump raised $165 million in July for his campaign outpacing Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, who raised $140 million last month as a record-setting pace of money continued to flood into the presidential campaign. Trump has raised $342.70 million to June 30 while Biden had receipts of $278.85 million.

More eyewatering is the $2 billion-plus raised by the 27 Democratic presidential candidates that dropped out of the race.

The sums are far higher than in the 2016 presidential campaigns when Hillary Clinton raised $89 million with the Democratic Party in July and Trump collected $80 million.

The 2016 presidential elections cost $2.39 billion when spending by candidates and various interest groups are combined, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Including expenditures by candidates for other federal offices -- members of the House of Representatives and the Senate -- the total figure skyrockets to about $6.5 billion.

The upward trajectory of campaign spending took off in 2008 when Barack Obama, as the Democratic nominee, declined federal financing -- a legacy of reforms adopted in the wake of Watergate scandal. Instead, Obama raised $436 million, giving him a substantial financial advantage over Republican John McCain, who took $84 million in public funds.

Polling shows that a vast majority of Americans favour legal limits on spending in federal elections. However, the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that limits on campaign spending conflict with the Constitutional guarantee of free speech.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 20/08/2020; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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