In one of the least-publicized acts of placing a ballot proposition before voters, the Legislature last year approved a novel, test-the-waters measure that would allow for public financing of future campaigns for secretary of state. The measure will go into effect only if ratified by voters next June, and its backers released a poll today that shows the initial public response to the "Fair Elections Act" to be strongly favorable.

Although voters overwhelmingly rejected a "clean money" scheme for financing campaigns for all statewide offices in 2006, this measure has been surgically crafted to draw public support. The key is that nearly all the money to finance the campaigns will come from a new fee to be imposed on a group of folks that voters generally hold in contempt: lobbyists and the interest groups that pay them.

It also targets an office that voters rightly believe should be free from partisan influence; the secretary of state, after all, is the state's chief elections officer, the person who must certify that all votes are properly counted and that election results accurately reflect the voters' will.

The telephone poll of 800 likely primary voters, conducted Oct. 11-15 by Lake Research Partners, shows 63 percent support, 22 percent opposition and 16 percent undecided. Further, it shows support across party lines: 65 percent of Democrats and independents, 59 percent of Republicans.

To qualify for public financing, candidates would have to agree to strict spending limits and not accept any private contributions. To qualify, a candidate would first have to $5 contributions from 7,500 people; that money would serve only to certify the legitimacy of the candidate, as the revenue would ultimately be put into the public financing pot.