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Paul Smith

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Updates

 

 

A recent piece by the Associated Press (AP) revealed that even though President Trump has criticized voting by mail, more than half a dozen of his closest advisers have repeatedly mailed in their own ballots – including Vice President Mike Pence who still lists the governor’s residence in Indiana as his official residence three years after moving...

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) sent a letter urging Senators to include an additional $3.6 billion in the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act for crucial funding, administered with specific requirements, for the states to ensure our election infrastructure is strong for the 2020 general elections.

In the face of the...

A federal judge has dismissed two lawsuits against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on July 6, 2020, decisively ending the legal attack on the voter-approved constitutional amendment that established the Michigan’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Benson can now move forward with preparations for implementing the commission...

Issues

On July 1, 2020, a federal appeals court granted the state of Florida’s request to stop the expansion of voting rights to hundreds of thousands of voters who were deemed eligible to participate in the 2020 election by a lower court ruling. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit will hear the case while the implementation of the...

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) today over its delay in enforcing the Federal Election Campaign Act’s (FECA) requirement that a group whose “major purpose” is supporting the re-election campaign of Senator Joni Ernst register with the FEC.  

The complaint seeks FEC action on an...

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Issue One today sent a letter to recently confirmed Federal Election Chair (FEC) Chair Trey Trainor urging him to take action on the flood of secret or “dark” money flooding U.S. elections, drowning out the voices of everyday Americans.

The letter is a response to a recent interview with Trainor where he dismissed...

Today, Republican Federal Election Commission (FEC) commissioner Caroline Hunter submitted a letter of resignation. She’s expected to leave the agency as of July 3, 2020 with only three sitting commissioners. The law requires a quorum of at least four commissioners before the agency can conduct any official enforcement or regulatory action. The FEC...

Although violations of ethics laws and norms by members of the Trump administration capture headlines, this behavior is trickling down without much notice to career public servants in the White House. 

Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in the Executive Office of the President...

Issues

Congress should pass H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, to make the District of Columbia the 51st state. Citizens of the District deserve the same rights and voice in government as the current 50 states.

With a population of 705,749 citizens, the District has a larger population than Vermont or Wyoming and a comparable population to Sou...

Two shell corporations appear to have illegally laundered $1.25 million to Democratic super PACs, according to a new Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC).

The Pacific Environmental Coalition (PEC) was formed as a nonprofit last fall, and within months had given over $1 million to the Democratic super...

 Also by Kayley Ingalls, a CLC Legal Intern.

Four months away from the next presidential election and the nation’s campaign finance watchdog, the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), grinds to a halt while disclosure of the sources of campaign spending is needed now more than ever. Meanwhile, states have picked up the slack and Campaign Legal...

By Ben Phillips, a Summer 2020 CLC intern

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, each new Election Day presents a new stress test that should help avoid an election disaster in November—if state and federal governments learn from these primaries and plan accordingly.


When it comes to safe and accessible elections, Tuesday’s primary in...

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is asking the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to close a loophole that allows billionaires to funnel millions of dollars to political parties.

Earlier this year, former presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg transferred  $18 million to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which greatly exceeds the $35,500...

“Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shelby County v. Holder (2013).

In the Reconstruction Era immediately following the U.S. Civil War, Black voters in the South were...

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...

Issues