WASHINGTON – The Pennsylvania Supreme Court last week struck down the state’s congressional map as a partisan gerrymander in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The court’s action is one example of how states across the country are seeking to protect voters’ voices in the political process.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and FairVote today released a joint report outlining a state court strategy to strengthen our elections by protecting voting rights and moving towards fair redistricting. State supreme courts decide about 2,000 constitutional law cases every year, and these cases have far-reaching consequences. As outlined in the report – which examines ‘right to vote provisions’ in all 50 states – impact litigation has increasingly moved to state courts.

“Protecting access to the ballot and advancing fair redistricting  in the states is vital to building a representative and responsive government,” said Danielle Lang, senior legal counsel, voting rights and redistricting at CLC. “Our democracy faces challenges today that can be remedied by state courts, from entrenched gerrymandering that dilutes and distorts voters’ influence in elections to barriers to voting participation that disproportionally impact historically disenfranchised minorities.”

“Working to improve democracy through the political process has traditionally started at the local level,” said Drew Penrose, law and policy director at FairVote. “It makes sense to think locally when it comes to impact litigation too. I’m proud that we were able to compile these resources to help litigators get started.”

The report explores recent state court decisions that demonstrate the success of this strategy, and discusses the strategic considerations that are necessary for implementing such a strategy.

This report was made possible with the support of the Arnold Foundation.

Read the report.

Current law allows former candidates to keep campaign accounts open forever, inviting abuse of funds through personal use

WASHINGTON – A recent investigation by the Tampa Bay Times and WTSP-TV exposed the fact that 102 former campaigns were still spending money years after their candidates left office, stopped campaigning, or died. Examples ranged from the more extreme: a former politician that retired from Congress in 1993 and still uses his campaign account to pay for country club dues, to commonplace practices that include former staffers using campaign donations to advance private-sector careers or reward family members.

This week, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a petition asking the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to revise and amend regulations pertaining to the personal use of campaign funds as they apply to former candidates and officeholders. CLC is calling for a time limit on how long campaign accounts can remain open after the conclusion of a campaign unless the candidate genuinely plans to run for office again. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor also recently announced plans to draft a legislative solution that would reign in this practice.

“The FEC must act to clarify rules that have paved the way for former Congresspeople and staffers to use leftover cash as personal slush funds,” said Adav Noti, senior director, trial litigation at CLC, who served as associate general counsel for policy at the FEC. “By updating its regulations, the FEC can prevent politicians from misusing campaign donations years after leaving office. This permissive attitude towards ‘winding down’ campaigns has invited abuse, and it must end.”

“Given how widespread the problem is, the FEC should take action to clarify rules around the personal use of campaign funds,” said Brendan Fischer, director, federal and FEC reform program at CLC. “This is a problem for politicians on both sides of the aisle, and violators of the current rules should be punished.”

Recent CLC complaints before the FEC illustrate some of the most egregious examples of former lawmakers or their campaign staff converting funds to personal use.

• January 2018: CLC filed a complaint concerning the treasurer of the late-Congressman Mark Takai’s campaign committee, who paid himself more than $100,000 after Takai’s passing to “consult” the campaign.

• October 2017: Retired Congressman Cliff Stearns still has an active campaign account despite leaving office in 2013. CLC filed a complaint because Stearns was using apparently illegal campaign expenditures to pay for his monthly cellphone bill, payments to his wife, membership dues at private Washington D.C. clubs, and expenses apparently related to his private sector lobbying career.

The FEC has yet to act on these complaints.

Some challenges will be insurmountable, but at least Rounds is committed to government ethics program

“I was very excited to learn the White House is nominating Emory Rounds to be OGE’s next Director,” said Walter Shaub, senior director, ethics at Campaign Legal Center. “I have known him since 2006 when he was the deputy to the Bush administration’s ethics official, Richard Painter. Emory is a good and decent man who has devoted his life to public service. He believes in the government ethics program, and he will ably lead OGE. I’m sure the staff is relieved to learn the nominee is someone steeped in knowledge of – and concern for – the ethics program, rather than a political appointee with a partisan agenda. I hope the Senate confirms Emory quickly, because we need a new permanent head of OGE. He’s a great pick for this position.”

“Some challenges will be insurmountable, such as persuading the President to divest his conflicting financial interests or getting the White House to be more transparent about the ethics problems of its immediate staff. However, Emory is the right person to hold OGE together and preserve as much of the ethics program as possible. As a nominee to be Director, I think he represents a degree of stability in a sea of chaos.”

A Federal Election Commission that functions and enforces the law is critical to a healthy democracy

WASHINGTON – Lee Goodman announced Wednesday that he is stepping down from his post as Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). This strips the FEC down to four commissioners, which is the bare minimum number of votes for a quorum. Unanimous votes will now be required to take any action, such as passing rules or punishing lawbreakers. If one more commissioner steps down, the FEC would lose the authority to take official action.

Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center (CLC), and a former Republican chairman of the FEC, released the following statement:

“The FEC is the only government agency dedicated to overseeing the integrity of our political campaigns. We are facing the real possibility of a de facto FEC shutdown ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, and this couldn’t come at a worse time. Left unaddressed, the vulnerabilities in U.S. elections exposed in 2016 will only be exploited to greater effect by foreign actors in 2018 and beyond. We must not allow the nation’s election watchdog to bleed out.”

“The American people witnessed unprecedented campaign finance violations in 2016, including illegal foreign spending, a lack of transparency around the sources of millions in election spending, candidates and super PACs illegally working hand in hand and government contracts being awarded to corporations that gave six-figure donations during the presidential campaign.”

“A functioning and effective FEC that enforces the law is necessary for a healthy democracy. It is critically important that President Trump prioritize appointing FEC commissioners who will faithfully execute their duty to enforce the law.”

Mayor Bowser should support this public financing program, which incentivizes District candidates to seek support from a wider group of young, diverse voters

WASHINGTON - Today, the Council of the District of Columbia voted decisively to approve the Fair Elections Act of 2017. The District will join nearly 30 other jurisdictions across the country with a public financing system. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is part of the DC Fair Elections Coalition and testified in support of the bill at a committee hearing.

“The Council has taken an important step to reduce the dependence candidates have on big donors and developers. The Fair Elections Act will empower small donors by amplifying their voices in District elections,” said Catie Kelley, director, policy and state programs at CLC. “From nearby Montgomery County, Maryland to Seattle, jurisdictions across the country are moving toward citizen-funded elections. This is an important step but we urge the Council to continue its efforts to reform the District’s campaign finance system by passing pay-to-play reform.”

“By design, public financing programs encourage candidates to draw more voters into the political process,” said Adav Noti, senior director, trial litigation at CLC, who testified before the Council on June 29, 2017. "Mayor Bowser should support this program, which will incentivize District candidates to seek support from a diverse set of voters, instead of from developers and others who try to buy influence with campaign contributions. Funding this bill will benefit the District for decades to come."

The voluntary system allows qualified candidates an initial grant followed by a five-to-one match on small donations with a maximum amount of public funds depending on the office they are seeking. The Office of Campaign Finance is charged with administering and enforcing the new Fair Elections Program, and it is required to submit a report to the Mayor and Council after each election. New York City’s successful system has a similar review provision.

Read the testimony CLC submitted to the D.C. Council in support of the Fair Elections Act, which analyzes the bill’s details, provides recommendations, and uses studies of multiple jurisdictions to show how matching funds programs give candidates a financial incentive to reach out to a greater number of voters.

Today, the Supreme Court has decided to decline to expedite briefing in the North Carolina partisan gerrymandering cases. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) represent the League of Women Voters of North Carolina, one of the groups challenging the state’s 2016 congressional map. CLC, the SCSJ, and litigators representing Common Cause filed a request for expedited briefing on January 24.

“We will continue fighting for the citizens of North Carolina to be able to vote under fair maps in 2018, since the facts of the case remain strong,” said Ruth Greenwood, senior legal counsel, voting rights and redistricting at CLC. “The Supreme Court has the opportunity to adopt the standard for measuring partisan gerrymandering presented to the justices in the Wisconsin case – and by striking down those maps this term – have a clear path forward to doing the same in North Carolina. In both cases, bipartisan panels of judges have found that the gerrymanders are so extreme that they violate the constitution.”

This term, the Supreme Court will decide CLC’s case challenging Wisconsin’s state assembly maps as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. CLC and co-counsel represent 11 marginalized voters in the state in the landmark case, Gill v. Whitford. The federal district court in North Carolina applied the same tests for measuring partisan symmetry as applied in the Wisconsin case, indicating that there is a manageable way to consistently measure what constitutes an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

Read more about the case League of Women Voters of North Carolina v. Rucho.