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...

Voters from across the political spectrum are concerned about the rise of secret spending in our elections and rightly so. Political transparency is a means to advance the principles of the First Amendment by encouraging the exchange of ideas needed for voters to make informed decisions.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the...

No voter should have to choose between protecting their health and exercising their right to vote, particularly in the middle of a global pandemic.

The state of Tennessee imposes strict limits on eligibility for voting absentee and even uses criminal penalties to deter people from assisting voters with obtaining absentee ballots.

Tennessee is...

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) reviewed financial disclosure reports between Feb. 2, 2020 and April 8, 2020 of congressional stock transactions. We found that as COVID-19 cases began to increase throughout the country in the weeks before the first three rounds of legislative relief packages, Senators and Representatives from both sides of the aisle...

After a yearslong battle in court, Native Americans in North Dakota will finally face fewer obstacles to accessing the ballot. The Spirit Lake Nation and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe recently filed a binding agreement, which once approved by the court, will be enforceable by court order and provide essential voting rights safeguards.

In 2013, North...

In the wake of the passage of the $2 trillion coronavirus pandemic relief package and the accompanying lobbying explosion, we continue to learn new details about which industries and constituencies secured what they were seeking and which did not.

From from what we know so far, however, it certainly appears that those who have spent years building...

Voters should not have to choose between staying healthy and exercising the right to vote amid the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, states should make it easier for voters to access the ballot and exercise their right to vote in this time of crisis.

A recent video featuring Campaign Legal Center (CLC) experts Trevor Potter, Danielle Lang, and...

In Wisconsin, voters were forced to decide whether they wanted to risk contracting or spreading the coronavirus to exercise their right to vote.

A contentious legal battle over the Wisconsin election quickly rose to the U.S. Supreme Court on April 6, 2020, which ultimately concluded that it would not extend the state’s absentee ballot deadline to...