Editorial: This Is A Terrible Time For A Further-Weakened Federal Election Commission

As Trevor Potter, a former Republican head of the FEC who now leads the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, rightly acknowledged following Petersen’s resignation, the imperative of a fully functioning FEC goes well beyond campaign competition between Democrats and Republicans. “In the 2020 election, political spending is expected to reach nearly $10 billion,” Potter said in a statement, as reported by ABC News. “With the campaign season in full swing, there is no time to waste in securing our democracy. Russia exploited a weak FEC to covertly meddle in U.S. elections through digital ads and the FEC has a pending rulemaking to tighten disclosure requirements.”

Read the full editorial here.