Elections play a key role in American democracy by allowing citizens to choose their political leaders. Over time, campaign spending has risen dramatically from $175 million in 1960 to over $6 billion in 2004, outpacing voter turnout. Various reforms have attempted to regulate campaign finance by limiting certain contributions and expenditures, but the Supreme Court has found some restrictions as violations of free speech rights. The most recent reform, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, banned unlimited "soft money" donations but still allowed loopholes like 527 groups to influence elections through unlimited spending.