Addressing foreign interference should be treated as a national priority because it is an urgent national security threat

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Attorney General William Barr released a redacted version of the “Report on the Investigation of Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.” Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation found three main Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. The first involved attempts by a Russian organization, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), to conduct a disinformation campaign and social media operations in the United States designed to sow social discord, with the aim of interfering with the election. The Special Counsel brought criminal charges against 12 Russian citizens and three Russian entities for conspiracy to defraud the United States. The second element involved the Russian government's successful computer hacking operations that obtained and disseminated emails through intermediaries to influence the election. The third is the large number of contacts between Russians and senior officials of the Trump campaign, including Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner.

Trevor Potter, President of Campaign Legal Center (CLC), and a former Republican Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, released the following statement:

“The Mueller report’s findings highlight the need to treat foreign interference as a national priority because it is an urgent national security threat. Details uncovered in the investigation lay bare the extent to which Russia conducted an organized campaign of information warfare against America with the goal of spreading chaos and distrust in our elections. The facts are disturbing: millions of Americans went to the ballot box in 2016 without knowing that a foreign adversary had taken extraordinary steps to pose as American political activists online, purchase political ads, and hack a major party nominee and campaign committee. While the Special Counsel found that the activity of the Trump campaign did not meet the high standards for a criminal felony indictment, the report is replete with evidence of contacts and meetings with foreign actors seeking to influence the 2016 presidential election. 

Russia spent a large sum of money on ads that explicitly supported or opposed a presidential candidate. These ads were not subject to reporting – and Congress must work to change this law for digital ads. It is time to focus on how we can strengthen our election system to prevent foreign interference through illicit online activity, and to clarify our campaign laws so that the opportunity no longer exists for foreign actors to influence elections. We should work to find consensus among our leaders in Washington on transparency measures that would shine a light on foreign money pouring into American elections. We cannot lose sight of the message Mueller delivered with this investigation: a foreign adversary tried to subvert American democracy and they – or other countries that do not wish the U.S. or our democracy well – will do it again if given the chance. Our country’s longstanding concerns about foreign interference are rooted in democratic self-governance and national sovereignty. American people of all political stripes – regardless of who they voted for in 2016 – should look beyond one election outcome and call on Congress to protect our country from any foreign entity that may use the Russian model to intervene in 2020 and beyond.”

Proposed new rules are confusing and vague and would deter groups from helping others register to vote through harsh criminal and civil penalties

WASHINGTON – Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and a collective of national civil and voting rights organizations sent a letter to the Tennessee General Assembly asking them to reject bill SB971/HB1079 that would create burdensome requirements, threatening civil and criminal penalties for individuals and groups conducting voter registration drives. The bill, scheduled for a vote in the House Monday, will intimidate groups from conducting community-based drives to avoid the risk of being subject to the bill’s severe penalties.

In a state that struggles with voter registration and turnout, leaders should look for ways to encourage activities like voter registration drives, but these new restrictions will have the exact opposite effect.

The letter outlines several issues that make this bill a threat to efforts to make democracy more accessible to all Americans. The language used in the bill is vague and makes it unclear who must follow the requirements - for example, it heavily penalizes voter registration drives for handing in registration forms “deemed deficient” without explaining clearly who is subject to the rule and what would considered a “deficient” form, and it adds poorly-defined criminal penalties for honest mistakes. Tennessee’s criminal laws already protect voters and prohibit voter registration fraud, making these vague, onerous new restrictions unnecessary.

The bill also requires state-sponsored training without ensuring groups can actually participate, another provision with the threat of criminal prosecution. As written, this bill has no requirement that training be made available on any schedule or timeframe, or that it be made available on-demand online or otherwise.

In the letter, the organizations encouraged policymakers to “instead focus on modernizing Tennessee’s registration and election administration to promote participation and bring more eligible citizens into our democracy.”

WASHINGTON – Today, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of the Interior confirmed by letter that it has opened an investigation into ethical misconduct by then-Deputy Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, following CLC’s complaint filed on February 28. Bernhardt was confirmed as Interior Secretary by the U.S. Senate on April 11.

“The story of David Bernhardt is a classic story of the problem with lobbyists passing through Washington’s revolving door. Today’s news confirms that Bernhardt’s conduct raises serious ethical questions, including  whether he has exploited his power to advance the interests of the lobbying groups that used to pay his salary, potentially at the expense of the public,” said Delaney Marsco, ethics counsel at CLC. “We are pleased to hear the Inspector General is investigating Bernhardt’s potential conflicts of interest. We hope the IG recommends that Bernhardt separate himself from Interior matters that may benefit his former lobbying clients for the entirety of his government service. To avoid a tenure marred by ethics scandals similar to cabinet officials like Ryan Zinke and Scott Pruitt, Bernhardt should ensure that his actions avoid even the appearance of favoritism.”

According to CLC’s complaint, before joining Interior, Bernhardt lobbied on specific provisions of a law that aimed to minimize endangered species protections and maximize water supplies for his client. Bernhardt then joined Interior and used his official authority to institutionalize the same provisions that he had lobbied on, in violation of his ethics pledge and his ethical obligations.

Georgia voters inaccurately flagged as non-citizens will still face problems when registering to vote

ATLANTA, GA – On Tuesday, after three federal lawsuits in 2008, 2016 and 2018, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 316, largely ending the onerous ‘exact match’ system that has failed Georgia voters for the past 12 years.

The ‘exact match’ system placed more than 50,000 voter registrations – disproportionately those of voters of color – on hold before the 2018 elections because of discrepancies between government records. Thousands of the applicants were also put on hold because they were flagged as potential non-citizens when their applications were matched against outdated DDS records. A coalition of Georgia civil rights groups – represented by Campaign Legal Center (CLC), Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, and The Law Office of Bryan L. Sells – sued prior to the 2018 election and that lawsuit is ongoing.

Litigation around the state’s process for verifying voter registration applications started over a decade ago. After the initial 2008 litigation that challenged the first implementation of the verification process, then-Secretary of State Kemp implemented an exact match process in 2010. That version was ended by a settlement after a lawsuit filed in 2016. In 2017, the legislature revived the failed program despite knowing it had a disparate impact on voters of color. After the current lawsuit was filed in 2018, the Georgia legislature and Governor Kemp have now largely ended this discriminatory system. However, the Georgia applicants who are incorrectly marked as non-citizens under the ‘exact match’ system, will continue to face issues when registering to vote.

“Voters in Georgia should feel relief today that minor discrepancies or typos on government documents will not deny them the right to vote,” said Danielle Lang, co-director, voting rights and redistricting at CLC. “Georgia’s abandonment of this failed program is long overdue. Georgia should also abandon its reliance on unreliable data to impose additional burdens on registration for naturalized citizens.”

“While this is a step in the right direction, Georgia is continuing to match voter registration data against outdated Department of Drivers Services (DDS) record,” said Julie Houk, Managing Counsel for Election Protection for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Georgians who are United States citizens will continue to be inaccurately flagged as non-citizens if they obtained a Georgia driver’s license prior to attaining citizenship or because of other deficiencies in the database matching process. A result, eligible Georgia citizens will continue to be unreasonably burdened by having their voter registration applications put on hold or even canceled.”

“Many of the voters who will continue to be affected by the citizenship issue are Asian American,” said Stephanie Cho, Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta. “Asian Americans already historically have low levels of civic engagement, and burdens to voting like this only make that worse. We will continue to work with our communities on the ground to let them know about this law change and provide support for the burden the system continues to place on naturalized citizens.”

The failed exact match program put voters’ registrations in jeopardy for reasons as benign as hyphenated last names, minor typos or data entry errors. Voters will no longer have their registration canceled because of such minor discrepancies; they will be fully registered and treated exactly the same as other voters. Under the new law, voter registration applicants flagged for discrepancies between DMV and voting records will be fully registered to vote but must produce proof of identity to a poll official before voting. Like all Georgia voters on Election Day, this means they must show photo ID to a poll official before they cast a ballot.