Campaign Legal Center and 19 other good government partners have sent a letter to each Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, urging the body to approve the board of the Office of Congressional Conduct so that it can conduct investigations and review allegations of misconduct. 

Kedric Payne, Campaign Legal Center's vice president, general counsel and senior director for ethics, issued the following statement:

"A fully functioning Office of Congressional Conduct (the body formerly known as the Office of Congressional Ethics) is essential. As one of the only safeguards against corruption in Congress and the only independent ethics enforcement body in either chamber, the OCC serves as both a benefit to voters — providing them with transparency about their members of Congress — and the elected officials themselves, who deserve neutral, non-biased investigations into allegations of misconduct.

"Without a fully functioning OCC, Congress is left with a self-policing system fueled by partisanship and conflicts of interest. House leadership must quickly approve the OCC board. The American people have a right to know that their elected officials in Congress are prioritizing public interest over personal financial gain."

Bozeman, MT — Last month, Montana voters scored a victory after a federal court ruled to block the state’s enforcement of HB 892, a law passed in May 2023 that established unnecessary barriers to registering to vote in the state under the guise of preventing double voting. 

Under HB 892, voters and voter registration organizations were made responsible for ensuring that registration applicants somehow deregistered from a previous address before registering to vote in Montana. HB 892 would have also punished voters who do not provide detailed information — even if it is unintentionally omitted — about their previous place of residence when applying to register to vote. Voters who did not comply with these requirements, even if unintentionally, risked strict criminal penalties.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) initially filed a lawsuit in Montana state court on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Montana (LWVMT) in October 2023 to challenge the constitutionality of HB 892. CLC also filed a preliminary injunction in November 2023 to try and stop enforcement of the bill. The evidence from the hearing on LWVMT’s preliminary injunction was cited in a separate federal lawsuit also challenging HB 892. Because HB 892 is now permanently blocked, Montana and LWVMT have agreed to dismiss the state case. 

“Our democracy works best when every voter can participate and civic organizations can freely express their pro-voting message,” said Danielle Lang, senior director for voting rights at Campaign Legal Center. “The fact that our state court lawsuit served as a catalyst to end enforcement of HB 892 under a different case reinforces our belief that states should be working to implement, rather than hinder, pro-voter reforms. Montanans deserve to register to vote free from fear, and CLC will continue to remain vigilant against other threats to democracy in the Mountain West.” 

"We are relieved to know that HB 892 has been permanently invalidated by the federal courts," said Nancy Leifer, President of the League of Women Voters of Montana. "Now Montana voters can register to vote without the threat of a felony conviction if they inadvertently are registered in two places at once, or fail to complete past registration location information correctly. The League will continue to protect Montana voters' ability to register and vote should problems arise in the future." 

Both Montana and the federal government have laws already in place to punish and prevent double voting. However, HB 892 attempted to shift the burden of deregistering at a past address from the state and onto voters, despite the state having no clear process to do so. 

If this law had been allowed to stand, nonpartisan civic engagement groups like LWVMT would have also been discouraged from and perhaps faced criminal penalties for carrying out their vital work to promote voting through registration, outreach and public engagement — which is a violation of the group’s constitutionally protected rights. 

Should Montana try to illegally enforce HB 892 again despite the federal court’s order, LWVMT could refile its lawsuit. CLC will continue to advocate for Montanans’ freedom to vote and nonpartisan civic engagement groups against future attempts to limit their rights at the expense of our democracy. 

More information on the latest updates regarding this case be can found on CLC’s case page. 

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The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials. 

Learn more about CLC. Don't miss out on our latest resources: Subscribe to President Trevor Potter's newsletter on LinkedIn or email, tune in to the latest season of our award-winning podcast, Democracy Decoded, and join our livestreamed events.

Washington, D.C. — Congress is currently preparing to vote on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (H.R.22/S.128), or the SAVE Act. While the SAVE Act has been characterized as a narrow bill to mandate proof of citizenship for voter registration, this legislation’s extreme documentation requirements would upend the most popular forms of voter registration and risk endangering all Americans’ freedom to vote and our democracy.

CLC’s Senior Vice President Bruce V. Spiva issued the following statement on the SAVE Act:  

“The freedom to vote is essential to our democracy. Americans are already required to verify their citizenship when registering to vote. The SAVE Act introduces more barriers to proving citizenship that would make registering and casting a ballot much harder for everyone — especially for voters who have been historically disenfranchised.

“Under this legislation, millions of voters would face unnecessary hurdles when trying to register, mail and online voter registration would be disrupted, harmful voter purges would be mandated, and nonpartisan election workers would face severe criminal penalties while trying to do their jobs. Our democracy is strongest when all voters can participate and have their voices heard.  

“Congress must reject the SAVE Act.”

Washington, DC — Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF) sued the Executive Office of the President and members of the president’s Cabinet on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Secure Families Initiative (SFI) and Arizona Students’ Association (ASA) — alleging a recent executive order far exceeds his powers and threatens the freedom to vote for millions of Americans.

Voting is a freedom guaranteed and protected by the Constitution. The president does not have the legal authority to adopt new registration or vote counting requirements via an executive order that restricts access to that freedom for U.S. citizens. These changes are anti-voter at their core and signal that the president and his administration are intent on changing the way we run elections by unlawfully disenfranchising U.S. citizens. Through this executive order, the president is attempting to act beyond his power and usurp the role of Congress and the states to set their own election laws.

“This executive order, based on nothing but years of disinformation, is blatantly unlawful and a naked attempt to suppress the votes of targeted communities – disproportionately impacting the Latino community,” said Roman Palomares, LULAC National President. “We are proud to join this coalition seeking to stop the effort to silence the voice and votes of the U.S. electorate–and particularly of voters of color. Our democracy depends on all voters feeling confident that they can vote freely and that their vote will be counted accurately.”

“The president’s executive order is an unlawful action that threatens to uproot our tried-and-tested election systems and silence potentially millions of Americans. It is simply not within the president’s authority to set election rules by executive decree, especially when they would restrict access to voting in this way,” said Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights at Campaign Legal Center. “The Constitution is clear: States set their own rules of the road when it comes to elections, and only Congress has the power to override these laws with respect to federal elections. Campaign Legal Center, SDDF and our plaintiffs urge the courts to see this executive order for what it is: an unconstitutional executive overreach that threatens our freedom to vote.”

“Military families, veterans, caregivers, and overseas voters deserve secure access to the very democracy we serve to protect — no matter where we’re stationed or how we serve,” said Sarah Streyder, Executive Director of Secure Families Initiative. “This new order would mean that the veteran who is a full-time caretaker at home, who has done everything right, may now be shut out of the ballot box due to outdated paperwork. This new order would mean that the military family stationed on the other side of the world from home, who crossed every t and dotted every i — their military ID will no longer suffice, and due to mail delays outside of their control, their ballot will never count.”

“Donald Trump is attempting to wrongfully impede voting by millions of Americans with this latest unlawful executive order. But it will not work. In America voters get to pick their president – presidents don’t get to pick their voters,” said Ambassador Norm Eisen (ret.), the co-founder and executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund. “We are proud to stand up for the ability of every American voter to cast their ballots freely and fairly through this litigation.”

“The Arizona Students' Association has seen first hand what these egregious citizenship requirements really are, an attempt to suppress the vote. In Arizona we have a dual track federal registration system and the voters being affected by citizenship requirements are college students registering to vote for the first time, unsheltered voters, and Native voters. There are already extensive citizenship checks in place when registering to vote, Trump's EO is a clear attack on our voting rights. Our student members believe we should live in a country where it's accessible and convenient to be a part of democracy,” said Kyle Nitschke, co-executive director of Arizona Students’ Association.

The president’s order would silence tens of millions of Americans. This new order unlawfully seeks to impose burdensome barriers on U.S. citizens just trying to exercise their constitutional right to vote by requiring redundant paperwork, and by shrinking the timeline in which voters can return our ballots. President Trump’s executive order is an attempt to take control of our elections, and it threatens the right to vote for millions of everyday Americans.

Additionally, the president’s order includes a familiar target: independent agencies. This time, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The EAC was created by Congress to support election officials with election administration and “help Americans participate in the voting process,” not make it harder for Americans to vote. The President has no authority to interfere with the EAC.

The demands in President Trump’s executive order are illegal. Read more about our lawsuit here.

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The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials.

Learn more about CLC. Don't miss out on our latest resources: Subscribe to President Trevor Potter's newsletter on LinkedIn or email, tune in to the latest season of our award-winning podcast, Democracy Decoded, and join our livestreamed events.