Gov. Noem defends 'dark money' push as privacy protection

Although she insisted it “does absolutely nothing on campaign finance,” critics said it would further the use of “dark money” — contributions raised to influence policy and elections without clearly disclosing the individual donors. “Even with the exemption for campaign finance filings, it could facilitate legal protections for dark money spending in South Dakota’s elections,” said Austin Graham, a lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center based in Washington. "Allowing the public to have access to information about the sources of money that are spent to influence their voting decisions is really a core tenet of a healthy democracy," Graham said.

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