Convention season is upon us, and the Democratic National Convention is getting underway in Charlotte this week.  Given that the Republican platform unabashedly celebrates Citizens United and denounces campaign finance reform of any kind, the Democrats now have their turn to show where they stand on changing the current campaign finance system as...

1. Court Finds Texas Voter ID Law Violates Voting Rights Act
2. South Carolina Voter ID Law Goes to Trial
3. Latest Court Disclosure Challenge Opposed by Campaign Legal Center
4. Watchdogs Defend Federal Disclosure Laws in Latest Challenge Filed in Wyoming
5. Watchdogs Defend Contractor Contribution Ban in Court Filing
6. Campaign Legal Center Challenges Florida’s Plan...

49 years ago on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  He addressed an estimated 300,000 participants of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, saying:

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the...

1. Legal Center Joins Voting Rights Litigation in South Carolina & Florida
2. Legal Center Files Again in Defense of Texas Campaign Finance Laws
3. Legal Center Urges IRS to Enforce Tax Laws Despite Pressure from GOP Senators
4. American Future Fund’s Attempt to Evade Candidate “Soft Money” Ban Challenged by Legal Center
5. Another Attempt to Evade Campaign Finance...

1. Fourth Circuit Overturns Decision That Struck Down Century-Old Law Banning Corporate Contributions to Candidates & Parties
2. Legal Center Executive Director Represents Disenfranchised Voters in Texas Voter ID Trial
3. Rep. Van Hollen Files Brief in Appeal to Successful Challenge to Political Ad Donor Disclosure Regs
4. RNC Court Challenge to Aggregate...

1. Donor Disclosure Provisions Again Upheld by Fourth Circuit in Real Truth About Obama
2. Legal Center Senior Counsel Condemns Supreme Court’s Summary Reversal of American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock
3. House Appropriators Back Down from Attempt to Block New FCC Regulations to Put Public Files Online
4. FEC Deadlocks On Attempted Evasion of Disclosure Laws...

Campaign finance opponents are back to performing their favorite move: the “Disclosure Two-Step.”  While breathtaking in its audacity, the dance is remarkably simple. First, while challenging a substantive campaign finance restriction, you assure your audience that you strongly support disclosure and argue that political transparency will...

Earlier this week, Senator Mark Udall of Colorado introduced a bill to fix and modernize the Presidential Public Financing System. While clearly its short-term prospects for passage in the Senate are dim, this is a serious and timely effort that deserves support.  Here's why.

At the heart of Udall's bill is a set of incentives for presidential...

Ed Conard, former colleague and partner of Mitt Romney at Bain Capital, is currently on the TV talk show circuit promoting his new book.  Last night he was onThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  Unfortunately, Mr. Stewart did not take the opportunity to question Mr. Conard about the $1 million contribution he apparently illegally laundered though the...

1. Supreme Court Urged to Let Stand Lower Court Decision Upholding Montana’s Corporate Expenditure Restriction
2. Legal Center President Joins with Other Elections Officials in Brief Supporting Montana’s Corporate Expenditure Restriction
3. Funders of Electioneering Communications Must be Revealed: Appeals Court Denies Stay
4. Challenge to Florida’s Political...

On May 19, 2012, Meredith McGehee, Policy Director for the Campaign Legal Center, appeared on C-Span’s Washington Journal to discuss campaign finance issues.  In a discussion with host Pedro Echevarria, and in response to viewer questions, McGehee focused on current state of play in the funding the 2012 election cycle in the wake of the Supreme...

Over the past few years, there has been some concern about the transparency of the counting process in American elections, especially where votes are cast and counted electronically. For instance, last spring in Waukesha County during the Wisconsin Supreme Court run-off, a last minute correction to a clerical error changed the results of the...

Yesterday, Legal Center Policy Director Meredith McGehee appeared on the Diane Rehm show to discuss the campaign finance issues and the trial of former Senator John Edwards which went to a jury this week in Greensboro North Carolina.

McGehee’s fellow guests included Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post, Jan Baran of Wiley Rein and Steven Friedland...

Recently, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) proposed eliminating limits on contributions to political candidates as the solution to the current campaign finance mess. He says unlimited contributions to candidates won't further empower the wealthy; they will just create more political speech. And he said this with a straight face!

Sen. Alexander...

1. Legal Center Files Complaint Against Rep. Shock for Illegal $25,000 Solicitation
2. Senior Counsel Testifies Before Senate Rules Committee on Senate Electronic Filing
3. FEC Announces It Will Not Appeal Van Hollen Decision
4. Van Hollen Opposes Stay of Disclosure Ruling
5. FCC Vote Brings Broadcaster Political Ad Files to the Internet for Top 50 Markets
6. Legal...

1. FEC Disclosure Regulations Struck Down by District Court in Van Hollen v. FEC
2. Legal Center Files in Defense of California Disclosure Law
3. Senior Counsel Testifies in U.S. House of Representatives Forum
4. Colbert Report Twice Features Legal Center President and Collects Peabody Award for Super PAC Coverage
5. Legal Center Urges IRS to Curb Abuse of 501(c)(4)...

The Supreme Court, in its landmark 2010 Citizens United decision, unleashed unlimited special interest corporate spending in our elections but assured us that any threat of corruption stemming from this spending would be eliminated by robust campaign finance disclosure.

The Court wrote: “The First Amendment protects political speech [i.e...

1. Another Attack on State Campaign Finance Laws Turned Back in Texas
2. Legal Center Files in Defense of Washington State Disclosure Law Already Upheld by Supreme Court
3. Legal Center Calls on IRS to Ignore Efforts to Curb Eligibility Investigations of Political Groups Utilizing Tax-Exempt Status
4. Legal Center and Democracy 21 Call on IRS to Establish Bright...

The petition for a writ of certiorari has been filed in American Tradition Partnership, Inc. (ATP) v. Bullock. With the filing, the U.S. Supreme Court is now presented with an opportunity to re-examine its ill-considered Citizens United ruling.

The practical realities of Citizens United have proven a far cry from the comparative utopia imagined...

Television broadcasters are going to the mat for paper cuts and metal file cabinets. At a time of huge profits from political ad sales, many broadcasters are fighting tooth and nail to continue to make it difficult for people to access their public political files.

Under laws that have been on the books for decades, television broadcasters are...

1. Legal Center Seeks Investigation of Contribution from Super PAC to Romney Campaign
2. Senate Passes STOCK Act; House Removes Anti-Corruption Provisions
3. Legal Center Releases Report on Maxed Out Donors Contributing Heavily to Super PACs
4. Legal Center, Reformers Call for Bipartisan Cosponsors for Stripped-Down Disclosure Legislation
5. Legal Center, Reformers...