Securing Our Elections

Montgomery, AL — Alabama voters scored a victory today following a successful lawsuit Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed on behalf of two Alabama voters with past felony convictions. The judge’s order makes it crystal clear that currently eligible Alabamians will be able to vote in the 2024 election without extra confusion or fear.  

Just over a month ago, CLC and Alabama voting rights organizations sounded the alarm that H.B. 100 would cause confusion among voters and election officials and could deprive many Alabamians of their freedom to vote right before the 2024 election.  

Facing pressure from the lawsuit, Alabama’s attorney general then issued guidance clarifying that H.B. 100 cannot be used to block people from voting in the upcoming election. Today’s ruling successfully closes CLC’s lawsuit and includes strong language that will help make sure Alabamians with past felony convictions are not unfairly blocked from making their voices heard in the November election.  

“Our democracy is by the people and for the people, so every person’s voice must be heard. Today, democracy prevailed,” said Ellen Boettcher, Legal Counsel for Campaign Legal Center. “The state must now ensure that Alabama officials heed the judge’s order to avoid unnecessary confusion at the ballot box and ensure that all eligible Alabamians can exercise their freedom to vote this November.”

"I’m grateful that an Alabama Judge affirmed the right to vote in the upcoming election for people like me, who have labored long to regain our place in society, and exercise the most basic right of citizenship. It is curious that by contrast, Alabama Legislators have labored at least as long to suppress the voices of so many Alabamians," said JaiGregory Clarke, Birmingham hub organizer and voter rights restoration state lead at Faith in Action Alabama.

Background:

In July, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a lawsuit, in partnership with Alabama attorney J. Mitch McGuire, to block H.B. 100 from being implemented to ensure that currently eligible Alabama voters with felony convictions would not be disenfranchised this November.

Alabama’s Constitution does not disenfranchise all individuals with felony convictions, but it prevents those convicted of “crimes of moral turpitude” from voting until their rights are restored. This vague language, originally adopted in the 1901 Alabama Constitution to “establish white supremacy in this State,” was a method of keeping Black people from voting without overtly breaking federal law.  

Until 2017, Alabama law disenfranchised more than 130,000 Black citizens — roughly 15% of Black adults in the state – and never explained which felonies were disqualifying until 2017, allowing the state to arbitrarily and unequally enforce this law.

Alabamians had long been pushing the state to clarify which felony convictions take away the right to vote. In 2017, the Legislature finally passed a law defining which convictions take away the right to vote.

CLC’s Restore Your Vote tool is a helpful resource to help people with past felony convictions understand their voting rights. Learn more here. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the nonpartsian Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee alleging that six candidates running for U.S. Senate have not filed the required personal financial disclosure reports. Kedric Payne, CLC's vice president, general counsel and senior director for ethics, issued the following statement: 

"Senate candidates in six states appear to violate federal disclosure laws, leaving voters in the dark about the candidates’ sources of income and financial interests. The expulsion of Rep. George Santos after he hid his financial interests from voters highlights the need for candidates to comply with disclosure requirements.  

"Federal law requires congressional candidates to file financial disclosure statements ahead of elections. This is essential to ensuring public trust in government. Without this basic transparency, voters are unable to know if the people competing for their votes will prioritize the greater good over their personal financial interests. 

"But thanks, in part, to lax enforcement by the Senate Ethics Committee widespread violations of this requirement by candidates for U.S. Senate has been seen throughout the 2024 election cycle. 

"Despite a previous complaint from Campaign Legal Center (CLC) — which was filed in February to encourage enforcement — six candidates still running to represent states from Massachusetts to Texas have still not filed the appropriate financial disclosure forms. 

"This is why CLC today filed another complaint urging the Senate Ethics Committee to fulfill its duty and compel these candidates to file the proper disclosures and give voters the insight they need to make an informed choice at the ballot box."

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced on July 29 that it has agreed to settle a complaint originally filed by Campaign Legal Center Action (CLCA) and Common Cause Georgia (CCGA) and issued a $14,500 fine to the Georgia Republican Party (Georgia GOP) for failing to report its receipt of illegal in-kind contributions from a nonprofit called True the Vote during the 2021 U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia.

Under the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), corporations are barred from making contributions (including in-kind contributions resulting from coordinated activity) to federal candidates and political parties. But True the Vote and the Georgia GOP illegally collaborated on election-related activities — such as challenging voter eligibility and monitoring drop boxes — and failed to report these activities accordingly as in-kind contributions.

After the FEC initially dismissed the complaint filed by CLCA and CCGA, CCGA and its Executive Director, Aunna Dennis, sued the agency in federal court in late 2022, with CLCA as counsel.

The court ruled that the complaint filed by CLCA and CCGA detailed “plentiful” evidence of such illegal and undisclosed coordination. The court also said that the FEC’s dismissal decision was “factually and legally unreasonable” and it remanded the matter back to the FEC, which has now reversed course and affirmed that the law was, indeed, violated, and accordingly settled the matter.

“Both the court decision and FEC settlement mark a rare and significant precedent for what constitutes illegal coordination under federal campaign finance law,” said Megan McAllen, director of campaign finance litigation at Campaign Legal Center Action. “But we are disappointed that the FEC only managed to do the bare minimum to enforce the law, even under a court order. This settlement rectifies the Georgia GOP’s failure to disclose the $500,000 in contributions it received from True the Vote, but neither entity was penalized for their unlawful coordination and the modest fine imposed was not remotely proportionate to the magnitude of this violation. That we had to take the agency to court to achieve even a modicum of accountability for these blatant violations of law only confirms how much the FEC needs vigilant watchdogs like CLCA. Voters have a right to know who is spending money to influence their votes and be assured that those who break the law are all held accountable.”

“We are pleased that the FEC is finally shining a light on this illegal coordination scheme by requiring the Georgia Republican Party to disclose the contributions it received from True the Vote,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia. “But the FEC settlement falls short by letting True the Vote off the hook for its illegal attempt to undermine the voting rights of hundreds of thousands of Georgia voters in the 2021 runoffs. Georgia voters need reassurance that their right to vote will always be respected and that our federal institutions won’t neglect their duties to enforce the law. That is why we will continue to fight for accountability and transparency from the FEC."

The partnership between the Georgia GOP and True the Vote demonstrates a larger trend of campaigns and outside spending groups violating this law and engaging in illegal coordination since the 2010 Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court. The FEC’s routine practice of not enforcing federal coordination restrictions, and its recent issuing of an advisory opinion that further weakens our already inadequate coordination rules, have helped to perpetuate an environment that privileges wealthy special interests over average voters at the expense of a fully participatory democracy.

Legal action on the part of CLCA and CCGA before the courts led to a new precedent which can help bolster transparency around who is spending money in our elections and promote more enforcement of federal campaign finance law. This is essential for promoting integrity in our nation’s election system.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Campaign Legal Center submitted a letter to the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, urging it to advance S. 1171, the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act. 

The Committee is scheduled to vote on this legislation at its July 24 business meeting, as well as a bipartisan agreement between Sens. Peters (D-MI), Merkley (D-OR), Hawley (R-MO) and Ossoff (D-GA) to revise and strengthen this bill. If the Committee votes favorably, a modified version of the ETHICS Act will head to the Senate floor, a milestone in the ongoing effort to address serious concerns around lawmakers’ stock trading.  

If amended and passed, the ETHICS Act would prohibit members of Congress, the president and the vice president from buying and selling covered assets. These officials, including their spouses and dependents, would be required to divest any covered assets starting in 2027. This legislation would also provide enhanced enforcement mechanisms for these new divestment rules.

“Voters have a right to know if federal elected officials are acting in the best interests of their constituents, or for their own financial gain,” said Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel and senior director of ethics at Campaign Legal Center. “By virtue of their positions, members of Congress, the president and the vice President are oftentimes privy to information that is unavailable to the general public. Allowing them to engage in stock trading risks fostering an environment where conflicts of interest among lawmakers lead to the deterioration of public trust. It is essential that the U.S. Senate pass this bill.”  

In the 117th Congress, over half of members owned individual stocks while congressional stock transactions reached over $630 million. A recent media investigation revealed that nearly 20% of these members of Congress failed to timely disclose stock trades they made. 

Americans across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support a potential ban on congressional stock trading, due to their impression that these actions are secretive and self-interested on the part of lawmakers. Stock trades risk making lawmakers vulnerable to potential conflicts of interest around policymaking and even committee assignments.  

The modified ETHICS Act is a critical piece of bipartisan legislation. At a time when growing distrust among the public exists around the federal government and its associated officials, the U.S. Senate needs to pass this bill without delay.  
 

Read the full letter here. 

Adav Noti, executive director of Campaign Legal Center, released the following statement in response to questions regarding ballot access laws (the procedures of how candidates are placed on the ballot in each state):  

“Assuming the Democratic Party formally chooses a presidential nominee before or during the Democratic National Convention, there are no legal barriers to that candidate being on the general election ballot nationwide. In all 51 jurisdictions, the deadline to name the presidential candidate falls after the nominating date at the convention. Legal actions attempting to block the nominated ticket from appearing on the general election ballot would have no merit and would be rapidly disposed of by the courts.”  

Noti and CLC’s election lawyers are available to answer press questions about the legal requirements relating to ballot access.