In a new book, former National Security Advisor John Bolton alleges President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to buy more American agriculture goods to help him win farmers’ votes during the 2020 presidential election.
While talking with the Chinese president last year at a dinner, Bolton’s book claims “[Trump] stressed the importance of...
Parties in LWV New Jersey v. Way reached an agreement establishing a notice process for mail-in and provisional ballots in New Jersey for the July 7 primary election that would allow voters to fix potential issues with their ballots. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is joined in the case by the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, the NAACP New Jersey...
Minnesota has agreed to allow voters to cast absentee ballots in the state’s August 11 primary without a witness present, making it easier for them to participate in the primary while protecting themselves from COVID-19.
Under an agreement reached with the state , Minnesota’s Secretary of State will ensure absentee ballots will count in the...
After lacking a voting quorum since August, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) finally has enough commissioners again to carry out its obligations of enforcing, administering, and interpreting campaign finance law.
As the only government agency entrusted with those tasks, the FEC should take this opportunity to turn the page on its ten-year...
President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from Michigan over their pursuit of a mail-in voting expansion. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in May 2020 that all registered voters would be mailed applications for absentee ballots for the state’s August and November elections.
Since 2018, every eligible voter in...
Senator Mitch McConnell and his allies passionately defend the “political speech” of the wealthy and primarily white donors who pour millions into super PACs and buy influence in secret. But they are silent when it comes to state suppression of real people who are actually speaking.
For example, when McConnell said that “no individual or group in...
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) called for an investigation of Attorney General Bill Barr, and other senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials for their unusual involvement in criminal proceedings against associates of President Donald Trump. Their actions did not conform with DOJ’s requirement that officials are required to act impartially and...
By Kate Hamilton, a 2020 CLC Summer Intern
When Georgia voters went to the polls to cast their ballots in the state’s primary election, many encountered hurdles that reveal more systemic problems impacting America’s voting system.
The widespread instances of hourslong lines, malfunctioning voting machines and provisional ballot shortages –...
With the COVID-19 death toll in the United States now exceeding 100,000, it is critical that our government works to provide medical supplies to treat patients, protective equipment for our front-line medical and essential workers, and testing materials to stop the spread of the virus.
But the federal government has given hundreds of millions of...
By Campaign Legal Center's federal reform team
As wealthy special interests continue to tilt the political system in their favor by writing six and seven-figure checks to super PACs, Congress has failed to update campaign finance laws to ensure the independence of those super PACs.
And in the absence of congressional action, new evidence of...
A federal court temporarily suspended North Dakota’s enforcement of a law that resulted in the rejection of mail-in ballots using an error-prone signature match process, in which election workers compare the signature on voters’ absentee ballot application to the one on their return envelope. Now, all eligible voters should be able to have...
Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a notice of appeal regarding the District of Columbia’s District Court’s dismissal of a CLC lawsuit challenging the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) delay in resolving CLC’s 2016 complaint alleging that private prison contractor GEO Group illegally donated over $225,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC through a...
The public has a right to know how foreign governments and their agents are attempting to influence our country’s public opinion, policies, and laws.
CLC filed a complaint with the Department of Justice’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit asking for an investigation into former United States Representative David Rivera. Rep. Rivera...
Washington District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a mandatory 7 p.m. curfew for June 2, 2020 – Election Day in the District – as officials prepare for protests around the city. Polls do not close until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Voters must be able to travel to and from their polling locations safely and without fear of law enforcement...
A federal court struck down a Florida law on Sunday that would have denied voters the ability to participate in the 2020 election because they are unable to pay legal financial obligations imposed by the criminal justice system.
That order follows an appeals court ruling holding that it is unconstitutional to deny the right to vote solely because...
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas issued a decision that will allow signature gathering for a nonpartisan independent redistricting commission to proceed. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a lawsuit on April 21, 2020 on behalf of a client Arkansas Voters First, which is seeking to put before voters a fair maps initiative...
A federal court has blocked a Florida law that would have denied hundreds of thousands of voters the ability to participate in the 2020 election, striking it down as unconstitutional. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) sued last year on behalf of three individual plaintiffs and a class of all affected Florida citizens. This win for CLC’s clients and the...
At the urging of health experts and its own governmental leaders, millions of Minnesotans – especially senior citizens and those with underlying health conditions – are avoiding contact with people outside their households to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Under the current state law, absentee voting will require voters to violate this social...
As New Jersey continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Phil Murphy announced recently that mail ballots will automatically be sent to voters. The resultant surge in mail ballots underscores the urgent need for procedural safeguards to assure voters that they can cast their mail ballots with confidence.
With a ‘signature match’ system...
By Campaign Legal Center’s Ethics & Federal Reform Teams
The out-sized role of money in our democracy means that those with the deepest pockets often have a disproportionate influence over policy—even amid a public health and economic crisis.
As Congress scrambled to piece together a relief package in response to the coronavirus pandemic...
Elections should be determined by voters, not politicians drawing maps. But some Missouri lawmakers are still trying to go against the voters’ will and rig the 2021 redistricting to protect incumbent politicians. This is part of a devious long-term strategy to further divide voters and undermine the principles of representative democracy.
In 2018...