[Bartweiss]

Well, I'll do a bit of it.

Voting rates for local/state elections are awful, and only rise when they share a ballot with national elections. 'Special districts' are a legal fiction helpful for organizing things like sensible fire department jurisdictions, but they've become a way to ensure that there are few or even no voters for a specific issue, and to minimize state oversight of a given budget. Lobbying groups and special interests may influence national bills, but they write state and local bills, often getting their "sample texts" passed completely unchanged. John Oliver has covered all three of those topics, but I could dig up real sources if you actually doubt them.

I wouldn't care to speak to the fraud claim, but surely it isn't controversial that voter engagement is lower - and N dollars of corporate spending buy more influence - when the stakes are lower?