Brown v. Scanlan

At a Glance

Campaign Legal Center is urging the New Hampshire Supreme Court to rule that extreme partisan gerrymandering violates the New Hampshire Constitution.  

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Active
Updated
Issues
Redistricting
About This Case/Action

In 2022, a group of New Hampshire voters filed a lawsuit arguing that the state senate and executive council maps passed by the legislature are unlawful partisan gerrymanders in violation of multiple provisions of the state constitution. The plaintiffs allege that the state maps “crack” and “pack” Democratic voters based on partisanship to ensure Republicans will reliably and durably control state government for a decade, despite New Hampshire being a swing state. The district court dismissed the case by ruling that no matter how extreme the maps are gerrymandered for partisan advantage, the judiciary is powerless to uphold New Hampshirites’ constitutional rights. The plaintiffs appealed.  

CLC’s Amicus Brief  

CLC has submitted a friend-of-the-court brief that explains why the New Hampshire Supreme Court has the authority and the obligation to review the plaintiffs’ partisan gerrymandering claims.  

Among other provisions, the New Hampshire Constitution contains a Free Elections Clause, which provides a manageable standard that the court needs to evaluate whether a particular redistricting map constitutes an impermissible partisan gerrymander. This constitutional guarantee that “[a]ll elections are to be free” is undermined when the political process has continuously failed New Hampshire’s voters and allowed legislators elected from gerrymandered districts to insulate themselves from the electorate. There is firm historical grounding for applying New Hampshire’s Free Elections Clause to prohibit excessive partisanship in the redistricting process. 

The problem of gerrymandering is only getting worse. The combination of an increasingly polarized electorate and the sophisticated tools that propel today’s mapmaking enables gerrymanderers to dilute the voting strength of a disfavored group of voters with precision, entrench favored incumbents, and often secure preferred electoral outcomes for a decade. Courts are critical to correct this problem. The state judiciary is the only institution with both the constitutional authority to stop gerrymandering and the lack of political incentive to allow it.  

The New Hampshire Supreme Court can and should step in to block these extreme partisan gerrymanders and their distorting effects on democracy.  

Court Grants Motion to Delay Proceedings in Gerrymandering Lawsuit 

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Salt Lake City, UT – Today, Campaign Legal Center, League of Women Voters of Utah (LWVUT) and Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) issued the following joint statement after the court granted the Utah Legislature’s move to delay proceedings in our lawsuit challenging Utah's gerrymandered congressional map.   

"Regardless of which court hears our case, the facts remain the same. Politicians in Utah’s Legislature overruled the will of the people to repeal Proposition 4, rejected partisan-neutral maps developed with input from the community and then gerrymandered the congressional map to suit their political interests.  

We look forward to a fair and thorough review of our claims in the Utah Supreme Court and remain hopeful that Utah voters will soon be able to pick their politicians, instead of the other way around." 

More information about the lawsuit can be found here. 

Issues
Redistricting

Gerrymandering Lawsuit Heads to Utah Supreme Court

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Salt Lake City, UT - Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC), League of Women Voters of Utah (LWVUT) and Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) issued the following joint statement after the Utah Supreme Court took up our lawsuit challenging Utah's congressional redistricting map. The Utah Supreme Court also reinstated the claim that the Utah Legislature illegally repealed Proposition 4, which the lower court had previously dismissed. 

"Regardless of which court hears our case, the facts remain the same. Utah's legislature gerrymandered their congressional map to lock in power and undermined the will of voters in the process. We look forward to defending Utahns' constitutional rights at the state supreme court so every vote counts equally and every voice is heard."

More information about the lawsuit can be found here. 

Issues
Redistricting

CLC Files FEC Complaint Against Rep. George Santos for Violating Campaign Finance Laws

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On January 9, 2023, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that recently elected Rep. George Santos and his 2022 campaign committee, Devolder-Santos for Congress, violated federal campaign finance laws. The complaint alleges Santos and his campaign engaged in a straw donor scheme to knowingly and willfully conceal the true sources of $705,000 that Santos purported to loan to his campaign; deliberately reporting false disbursement figures on FEC disclosure reports, among many other reporting violations; and illegally using campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, including rent on a house that Santos lived in during the campaign.

Adav Noti, Campaign Legal Center’s Senior Vice President and Legal Director, issued the following statement: 

“Voters deserve the truth. They have a right to know who is spending to influence their vote and their government and they have a right to know how the candidates competing for their vote are spending those funds. George Santos has lied to voters about a lot of things, but while lying about your background might not be illegal, deceiving voters about your campaign’s funding and spending is a serious violation of federal law. That is what we are asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate. As the agency responsible for enforcing America’s campaign finance laws, the FEC owes it to the public to find out the truth about how George Santos raised and spent the money he used to run for public office, and to ensure accountability for Santos’s illegal conduct.”



 

 


UPDATE: On January 10th, this complaint was sent to the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice to alert the Department to potential criminal violations of the federal campaign finance laws that warrant investigation.

Issues
Campaign Finance
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