Secretive groups spent millions on SC elections last year
Free to spend unlimited amounts of money, outside groups dropped more than $6 million on South Carolina’s elections last year, promoting their favorite candidates, attacking their political opponents and barraging voters with non-stop ads. Many of the groups behind this advertising blitz were not required to disclose their donors, blinding the public to the people and corporations seeking to plant their preferred candidates in office.
“It certainly has been increasing, and pretty dramatically,” said Erin Chlopak, an attorney with the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center, which monitors campaign finance laws. “They’re essentially drowning out the voices of regular Americans and excluding them from the political process.”