A recently published study in Vanderbilt Law Review entitled “Felony Financial Disenfranchisement” found that contacting people with past felony convictions to let them know that they can vote and helping them pay off restitution, fines and fees significantly increases voter participation.
This study, conducted in Florida during the 2020 elections...
Voters have a right to know who is trying to influence their vote and who is working to influence our government.
Transparency about the sources of funding for our elections and candidates and how that money is spent is central to the free and fair functioning of our democracy.
Increasingly, however, our elections are being drowned in secret...
“Dark money" groups are political organizations that masquerade as "social welfare nonprofits" under section 501(c)(4) of federal tax law, allowing them to avoid having to disclose where any of their money came from. Wealthy special interests use these groups to pour cash into elections and influence legislation in their favor, while keeping their...
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed suit against Heritage Action for America, a political arm of the Heritage Foundation, which spent over $1 million in the 2018 election cycle to help elect numerous Republican candidates for Congress. The lawsuit alleges that Heritage Action failed to make mandatory disclosures of the donors who contributed to fund...
This week, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee held a long overdue hearing on ethical standards in the U.S. Supreme Court. CLC’s Vice President, General Counsel, and Senior Director of Ethics Kedric Payne provided testimony for the hearing entitled “An Ethical Judiciary: Transparency and Accountability for 21st Century Courts.”
CLC’s testimony focu...
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that “ML Organization, LLC,” William Pulte and other unidentified individuals violated federal campaign finance laws in connection with a $500,000 contribution made to a pro-Trump super PAC.
The complaint alleges that ML Organization was not the...
The New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, has struck down congressional maps drawn by the New York legislature in part for violating the New York Constitution’s rules against partisan gerrymandering.
Campaign Legal Center (CLC), joined by nonpartisan good government group Citizens Union, filed an amicus brief, which explained...
Wendy Martin, a client that Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is representing in the case LWV Utah and MWEG v. Utah State Legislature, published an op-ed for The Daily Herald that explains how the gerrymandered congressional map enacted by the Utah Legislature prevents voters from electing candidates who will be responsive to their communities’ needs.
T...
Saurav is Director of Federal Reform at CLC. He previously served as an enforcement attorney in the FEC’s Office of General Counsel and worked on the Tread Standard FEC matter discussed here.
The use of shell companies to hide the true sources of election spending is a growing problem that fundamentally undermines the transparency of elections...
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition for certiorari seeking to hear an appeal in Gaspee Project v. Mederos, letting stand a decision by the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals upholding Rhode Island’s political spending transparency rules.
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) served as outside co-counsel to the state defendants in the Supreme Court...
In a win for fair maps, a Kansas district court has ruled that the state’s recently enacted congressional map constituted a partisan gerrymander and intentionally diluted the voting power of racial minorities, violating the Kansas Constitution.
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and the ACLU of Kansas, along with pro bono assistance from Arnold & Porter...
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed suit against 45Committee, a secret money group that spent as much as $38 million in 2016 to help elect former President Donald Trump. The suit alleges that 45Committee failed to register as a political committee as required by federal law, thereby avoiding disclosure of its donors and spending.
This suit, filed on...
Federal law requires political committees to disclose basic information about the contributions they receive, including who contributed the money and when. Transparency regarding the sources of funding for our elections and how that money is spent has long been a central tenet of our democracy.
But many big donors prefer to keep their election...
In a win for political transparency, the U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition for certiorari seeking to hear an appeal in the case Rio Grande Foundation v. City of Santa Fe, preserving voters’ right to know who is spending to influence ballot measure campaigns in the city.
Like many other states and municipalities, Santa Fe, New Mexico...
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) submitted an amicus brief in the Maryland legislative redistricting case encouraging the court to adopt the widely used and reliable standards and tools to evaluate partisan gerrymandering and rule that Maryland’s Declaration of Rights limits lawmakers’ ability to use partisan gerrymandering to silence voters holding...
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) recently settled a complaint against Canadian billionaire Barry Zekelman and his associated steel companies, after finding reason to believe that Zekelman illegally funneled $1.75 million to America First Action (AFA), a super PAC aligned with former President Donald Trump, and initiating an investigation.
As...
Almost exactly 10 years after the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act was signed into law, the House Administration Committee held a hearing examining congressional stock trading and potential reforms.
This hearing, held on April 7, 2022, was years in the making and reflective of a newfound acknowledgement by Congress that voters...
In a victory for Michigan voters’ ability to choose their representatives, a federal district court declined to invalidate the congressional maps created by the Michigan Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission.
The court’s ruling, issued on April 1, 2022, said that the plan enacted by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting...
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act was signed into law by former President Barack Obama on April 4, 2012. Ten years later, it is time to take stock of the STOCK Act.
The STOCK Act had three principal objectives: increase public trust in Congress, increase transparency by providing the public with real-time disclosure of...
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Barton Mendez Soto PLLC filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Arizona Students’ Association (ASA) and the Arizona Democracy Resource Center (ADRC) challenging H.B. 2492, an anti-voter law which undermines the...
Voters have a right to know whether their elected officials are prioritizing their own wallets over the needs of the public, and for years, much focus has rightfully been paid to the stock trading activities of those in power.
Although criticism of laws regulating congressional stock trading has focused on the lack of meaningful protection against...