ATLANTA, GA – Today, a federal appeals court has granted the state of Florida’s request to stop the expansion of voting rights to hundreds of thousands of voters who were deemed eligible to participate in the 2020 election by a lower court ruling. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit will hear the case while the implementation of the lower court ruling is suspended.

“Today’s decision is a setback,” said Paul Smith, vice president of CLC. “The district court’s decision to block Florida’s pay-to-vote system followed clear Supreme Court precedent. We are hopeful that the court of appeals will follow suit and confirm once and for all that wealth cannot determine a person’s eligibility to vote.”

In May, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled that conditioning rights restoration on the payment of costs and fees constitutes a poll tax, that Floridians genuinely unable to pay their financial obligations could not be denied the right to vote, and that the state’s inability to track and identify disqualifying financial obligations violated Floridians’ due process rights. The state was ordered to follow a procedure to ensure that individuals who cannot pay their legal financial obligations are not denied the right to vote, including by determining indigency.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) sued last year on behalf of three individual plaintiffs and all Florida citizens affected by Florida’s law. CLC’s suit – the only one brought as a class action – ensures that future rulings apply broadly to all voters seeking voting rights restoration in Florida.

Florida holds primary elections on August 18, and the deadline to register for the primary is July 20

WASHINGTON, DC - Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Issue One today sent a letter to recently confirmed Federal Election Commissioner (FEC) Chair Trey Trainor urging him to take action on the flood of secret or “dark” money flooding U.S. elections, drowning out the voices of everyday Americans. The letter is a response to a recent interview with Trainor where he dismissed the threat posed by “dark money” and downplayed the effects of secret money flooding our elections. 
 

CLC President Trevor Potter, who is a Republican former FEC commissioner, said: “The problems associated with large amounts of secret spending in our elections is a nonpartisan one. When wealthy special interests (foreign or otherwise) dump money into campaign coffers, voters have a right to know their origins and deserve a campaign finance watchdog looking out for their interests. There is a reason 80% of voters of all political stripes are concerned about dark money — its interference in our elections affects our ability to fully participate in the democratic process and our ability to self-govern.” 
 

Issue One Executive Director Meredith McGehee added: “It’s a dereliction of duty for the FEC to sit on its hands when it comes to dark money. The FEC has not only the power but a responsibility to shine a light on those who are trying to anonymously influence our elections. Increasingly, both Democrats and Republicans are using secret money, and Americans should not be left in the dark about who is trying to sway their votes.” 
 

The letter stated: “The FEC has a vital role and responsibility — indeed, a statutory mandate — to address secret election spending and to protect voters’ right to know which wealthy special interests are secretly spending millions of dollars to influence our vote and our government. This mandate was upheld by the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. FEC in an opinion joined by eight of nine justices then on the court.” 
 

The letter continued: “Once the Commission’s quorum is again restored, the agency can and should proceed with a rulemaking that will protect voters’ right to know the sources of funding for independent expenditures, and the agency should additionally proceed with a rulemaking to guarantee the fulsome disclosure of donors who fund electioneering communications. Moreover, the Commission should commit itself to diligently enforcing FECA’s transparency requirements."

Created in the wake of the Watergate scandals, voters and taxpayers deserve more from a watchdog agency. Corruption and the outsize influence of wealthy special interests continue to insert themselves in obvious and covert ways into our political process — we need a cop on the beat.
 

Read the full letter here. 

WASHINGTON – Today, Republican Federal Election Commission (FEC) commissioner Caroline Hunter submitted a letter of resignation. She’s expected to leave the agency as of July 3, 2020 with only three sitting commissioners. The law requires a quorum of at least four commissioners before the agency can conduct any official enforcement or regulatory action. The FEC is the only government agency dedicated to overseeing the integrity of our election campaigns. The FEC enforces and administers federal campaign finance laws including the disclosure of funds raised and spent to influence federal elections, the restrictions on money donated and spent to influence federal elections, and the public financing of presidential campaigns. Hunter’s resignation with only three days notice comes just after Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell broke precedent and forced through the nomination of Republican Chair Trey Trainor without a new democratic commissioner, while claiming it was vital for the FEC to have a quorum this election year.

Trevor Potter, president of the Campaign Legal Center and a former Republican Chair of the FEC released the following statement:

“A huge majority of voters are concerned about the enforcement of our campaign finance laws, and Hunter's resignation leaves their democratic elections with significantly less government oversight. Elections in 2016 and 2018 saw campaign finance violations including: illegal foreign spending, a lack of transparency around the sources of millions in election spending, and candidates working illegally with super PACs. Americans understand that the campaign finance system correlates directly to their families’ quality of life. The corruption of our democracy by unprecedented amounts of money in our elections from wealthy special interests diminishes the voices of average citizens. A strong and functional FEC is vital to protecting our democracy, fighting corruption, and holding politicians accountable for the campaign money they receive.”