In recent years, an ever-smaller percentage of taxpayers have checked off the box on their 1040 forms to authorize that $3 go into the fund. But, says Anthony Corrado, a Colby College professor who specializes in presidential campaigns, the fund now stands as “the last life raft of what was once the flagship of reform.” Everyone agrees the system is badly broken. Today, the question is whether it should be wheeled into the shop for a total remodeling or hauled off to the scrap yard.

Tacoma, Washington’s King is exactly the kind of voter the public-financing system set out to engage—smart, committed, and generous, even in trying times. But King says he did not check the box on his 2015 taxes and knows little about the public-financing program. He gave directly to O’Malley. King also donates regularly to Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic National Committee.

Because O’Malley decided to pursue public funding, the support of voters like King helped him demonstrate to the Federal Election Commission that he had supporters backing him in 20 states. Under the system, a 2016 primary-election candidate who meets this threshold can qualify for matching funds up to $48 million. If that candidate makes it to the general election and raises no private money, he then qualifies for an additional lump-sum payment of $96 million. For O’Malley, the decision to work within the system was easy. “We needed the revenue, but it also philosophically meshed with our beliefs,” says David Hamrick, O’Malley’s campaign manager. “We felt from a message standpoint and a philosophy standpoint that we were comfortable taking matching funds because we believe in them.”

Yet, it took a while for the FEC to process O’Malley’s filing—leaving the campaign running on fumes. Since 2010, when demand dropped, a single employee spends about 10 hours a month—and substantially more when paperwork peaks during the primaries—managing the fund. While he waited, O’Malley’s campaign had to borrow $500,000.

O’Malley’s filing finally reached the full FEC, a bipartisan body that rarely agrees on anything, and some grumbling ensued, according to Ann M. Ravel, the former commission chairwoman and its most outspoken member. The complaint centered on why taxpayers should fund a candidate on the verge of leaving the race. Nevertheless, the commission is legally obligated to approve the funds, so—after kicking the filing back to the campaign to correct a math error—it finally did. O’Malley received $1,088,929 on January 20. But the infusion of taxpayer money came too late to rescue his run. After a bleak showing in Iowa, O’Malley suspended his campaign.

Over the years, candidates from both political parties have relied on public financing. The fund pumped more than $20 million each into the campaigns of Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Robert Dole, and Pat Buchanan.