By David Fine According to research sponsored by the Pew Center on the States, approximately 24 million (one out of every eight) voter registrations are no longer valid or significantly inaccurate, more than 1.8 million deceased persons are listed as active voters, and approximately 2.75 million persons are registered in two or more states. At… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Campaign Finance
Subscribe to Campaign Finance RSS FeedUS Supreme Court Opens the Door to Reexamination of Contribution Limits
Posted in Campaign FinanceBy Stefan Passantino and David Fine Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court noted probable jurisdiction over McCutcheon et al v. Federal Election Commission, a case that has the potential to open the door to a fundamental re-examination of the constitutional issues surrounding contribution limits. The legal questions presented by the case itself are not the… Continue Reading
New Contribution Limits for 2013-2014 Federal Election Cycle
Posted in Campaign FinanceBy Randy Nuckolls Yesterday, the FEC announced new Contribution Limits for the 2013-2014 federal election cycle. The Individual contribution limit was increased from $2,500 to $2,600 per person per election. The limit for individual contributions to a national party committee was raised from $30,800 to $32,400 and the total individual overall biennial limit was raised… Continue Reading
US House Ethics Committee Mandates Greater Transparency for Travel and Disclosure
Posted in Campaign FinanceBy Stefan Passantino In the past month, the United States House Committee on Ethics has issued two comprehensive “pink sheets” implementing new disclosure requirements for privately sponsored travel and for member finances. Both sets of requirements are designed to increase transparency and public trust in government but also provide significant compliance challenges for the private… Continue Reading
Donations and Gifts Related to Official and Unofficial Inaugural Events
Posted in Campaign FinanceBy David Fine With 2012 coming to a rapid close and the 57th Presidential Inauguration quickly approaching, it is a good time to briefly highlight the rules governing donations and gifts related to official and unofficial inaugural events. In a Switch from Four Years Ago, Certain Corporate Donations Will Be Accepted for Official Inaugural Events… Continue Reading
States Lead the Charge on Pressuring Donor Disclosure by Politically-Active, Non-Profit Organizations
Posted in Campaign FinanceBy Benjamin Keane In our initial Political Law and Campaign Finance Update posting before Thanksgiving, we introduced the readers of the Politics, Law and Policy Blog to several campaign finance reform “roadmaps” being proposed for consideration at the federal level in 2013. The call for substantive changes in the rules governing the interplay of money… Continue Reading
Political Law Developments to Watch For in 2013
Posted in Campaign Finance, Political LawBy Stefan Passantino The Election of 2012 demonstrated in the starkest possible terms how formerly unheralded nuances of federal election and tax law have the capacity to affect the fundamental underpinnings of our democracy in the most direct way possible. Never before have the nation’s editorial pages and cable news airways been more active with… Continue Reading
Campaign Finance Update: Disclosure by Ad-Running Political Groups Continues to be Hotly Debated
Posted in Campaign Finance, Political LawBy Stefan Passantino As the 2012 election season heats up, outside advocacy groups are experiencing considerable influence over federal, state, and local elections. Some say that the collective influence of advocacy by Super PACs and other tax-exempt entities in favor of and against candidates is equal to, or exceeds, that of the candidates and the parties… Continue Reading
FEC Approves Use of Text-Messaging in Campaign Fundraising
Posted in 2012 Elections, Campaign Finance, Political LawBy David Fine and Mason Smith In a recent advisory opinion, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) unanimously voted to approve the use of text messaging to facilitate political donations by any American with a cell phone. The Commission held that a plan proposed by two political and media consulting firms and m-Qube, a corporate aggregator of… Continue Reading
Campaign Finance Update: FEC Defends Ban on Contributions from Government Contractors
Posted in Campaign Finance, Political LawBy Mason Smith and David Fine On Monday, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a motion for preliminary injunction challenging a 70-year old federal ban on campaign contributions from government contractors in Wagner v. FEC, No. 11-cv-1841. Key to the 26-page opinion was the judge’s finding that the three… Continue Reading