Tacoma, WA — Paul Smith, senior vice president of Campaign Legal Center (CLC), issued the following statement after a district court in Washington denied a CLC motion to block the enacted state legislative map for district 15 from going into effect for the 2022 election cycle. The complaint alleges that the map denies Latino voters the ability to elect their preferred candidates to the Washington state legislature.

“No matter our color, background or zip code, most of us want to have a say in who represents us. Latino voters in the Yakima Valley and Pasco regions deserve to have a fair opportunity to make their voices heard and elect candidates who will listen to them and meet their needs. The fight is far from over and we will continue to advocate for Latino voters in Washington so they can have a say in important matters that impact them every day.”

The state legislative map drawn this year will shape lives and communities in Washington for the next decade. While the lawsuit made a strong case that there would be irreparable and immediate harm to the Latino community in the Yakima Valley and Pasco regions, the district court held that the Supreme Court’s Purcell doctrine prevented the implementation of relief at this point in the election cycle. Campaign Legal Center and co-counsel, the UCLA Voting Rights Project, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Morfin Law Firm will continue to advocate for Washington’s Latino voters in a trial scheduled for January 2023 so that Latino voters have an equal chance to make their voice heard in future elections.

At Campaign Legal Center, we are advancing democracy through law. Learn more about our work.

The Federal Election Commission has imposed a $975,000 fine on Wheatland Tube, LLC and Zekelman Industries. The fine stems from a 2019 complaint from Campaign Legal Center, filed after the companies’ chief executive – a citizen of Canada – illegally arranged $1.75 million in contributions to the Trump-affiliated super PAC America First Action.

Washington, D.C. - This week, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) handed down a $975,000 fine – the third-largest in the agency’s history and the largest fine ever for a violation of the ban on foreign spending in American elections. The decision stems from an FEC complaint that Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed in May of 2019.

CLC’s complaint alleged that Barry Zekelman, a Canadian national, violated federal law’s ban on any foreign national directly or indirectly making contributions in connection with a federal election. Zekelman had participated in the decision to direct $1.75 million in contributions from Zekelman Industries subsidiary Wheatland Tube to the super PAC America First Action, Inc.

"We applaud the FEC for doing its job. Imposing this serious penalty helps protect the voices of voters from being drowned out by foreign corporations and other special interests,” said Adav Noti, vice president and legal director of Campaign Legal Center. "Super PACs funded by foreign money are just one example of how wealthy special interests use campaign contributions to rig the political system in their favor. Super PACs should now be on notice that there are major consequences for breaking the ban on foreign contributions.”

CLC filed its initial complaint following reporting by The New York Times that detailed Zekelman’s attempts to influence the Trump administration. The administration went on to rule in favor of Zekelman Industries on a series of claims the company has made against foreign competitors. Sales and profits subsequently surged at the privately held company.

The FEC is the only government agency whose sole responsibility is overseeing the integrity of our political campaigns. Recent failures by the FEC to enforce campaign finance laws has resulted in an explosion in secret spending, threatening Americans’ First Amendment right to have their voices heard. By administering the third-largest fine in the agency’s history, the FEC this week took a rare step towards standing up for the rights of American voters.

At Campaign Legal Center, we are advancing democracy through law. Learn more about our work.

Nashville, TN – Last week, the U.S. Court for the Middle District of Tennessee rejected the state’s attempt to dismiss challenges to the systemic failures of Tennessee’s voting rights restoration process for people with prior felony convictions. The case now heads toward trial.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC), Free Hearts Tennessee, Baker Donelson and Equal Justice Under Law are representing the Tennessee Conference of the NAACP and five Tennesseans seeking to restore their right to vote in a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s complicated voting rights restoration process.

Tennessee law allows people who meet certain criteria after a felony conviction to request and be issued a Certificate of Restoration of Voting Rights (COR). The state of Tennessee filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit’s claims that state officials have failed to implement a process for obtaining CORs that fulfills the minimum requirements of the United States Constitution, leaving Tennesseans with past felonies at high risk of being deprived of their right to vote. The district court’s ruling rejected the state’s motion to dismiss, and the lawsuit will now proceed to trial.

“Our most fundamental right as Americans is the right to vote, but for far too many people, that right is being denied because of a process that freezes out communities that have struggled for equal access for too long,” said Blair Bowie, senior legal counsel and Restore Your Vote manager at Campaign Legal Center. “The decision to allow these claims to proceed is the first step towards fixing Tennessee’s unequal, inaccessible, opaque and inaccurate voting rights restoration process.”

Tennessee’s voting rights restoration process was recently thrust into the national spotlight when Shelby County resident Pamela Moses was sentenced to six years and one day in prison for submitting a COR filled out by a probation officer which contained an error.

“Pamela Moses’ case showed that the people trying to restore their voting rights always unfairly bear the costs of Tennessee’s negligence, whether they are wrongly told they are ineligible or wrongly told they are eligible.” said Keeda Haynes, legal advisor at Free Hearts. “It’s high time the state creates a centralized process where Tennesseans can get an official answer on their eligibility and allow for an appeal if they feel that answer is wrong.”

“Felony disenfranchisement disproportionately harms Black people and other communities of color,” said Gloria Sweet-Love, president of the Tennessee NAACP. “One in five Black people and one in ten Latinos in Tennessee can’t vote because of past convictions. That is the second highest rate of Black disenfranchisement in the country, and the highest rate of Latino disenfranchisement. The legislature created a pathway for members of our communities to restore their rights, but these officials have failed to create a system that works.”

“The problems with the defendants’ system are avoidable and easily fixed,” said Charles Grant, shareholder at Baker Donelson. “Until remedies are implemented, fully eligible Tennesseans will continue to be erroneously denied restoration of their voting rights. This suit seeks to compel Defendants to do their jobs and administer the COR process in a manner that passes basic constitutional muster.”

“There is no right more basic to the health of a democracy than the right to vote, and Tennessee’s failed rights restoration scheme means the unlawful exclusion of hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans from the political process,” said Phil Telfeyan, executive director of Equal Justice Under Law. “Tennessee is effectively silencing many of its people, but today that silence ends.”

At Campaign Legal Center, we are advancing democracy through law. Learn more about our work.

Grand Rapids, MI – Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Voters Not Politicians (VNP) issued the following statements after a U.S. District Court ruling which upheld the congressional maps developed by Michigan’s independent redistricting commission:

“Elections should be determined by voters, not politicians. I am grateful the court sided with Michigan’s voters, who overwhelmingly supported the creation of an independent redistricting commission to design fair maps that ensure our political system is truly of, by and for the people,” said Paul Smith, senior vice president at Campaign Legal Center.

“This November, Michiganders will be voting for Congressional representatives with fair, voter-drawn maps for the first time in our state’s history,” said Nancy Wang, executive director of Voters Not Politicians. “We are grateful to the CLC legal team for its expertise and prompt action in defending the will of Michigan voters who approved the Michigan Independent Redistricting Commission and the requirements it used to draw new Congressional districts.”

Michigan voters passed a citizen-led ballot initiative in 2018 that created an independent redistricting commission to draw congressional maps. The commission dutifully adopted and enacted a new plan for Michigan’s 13 Congressional districts in late December 2021. A group of Michigan plaintiffs then filed a lawsuit challenging the maps and seeking to overturn them.

In February, CLC intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of VPN to ensure that the court faithfully interpreted the redistricting standards enacted by the voters of Michigan. As the principal sponsor of that ballot initiative, VNP sought to defend the procedures used by the nonpartisan commission and ensure that efforts to undermine its authority or undo the purpose of the amendment were curbed.

Independent redistricting commissions take the power of redistricting out of the hands of partisan legislators, who have proven that they will use the process to gain power when given the opportunity to do so. These commissions give the power to the citizens to choose their representatives and create a more fair and transparent process for redrawing districts.

On Friday, April 1, the court upheld the maps drawn by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission saying the plan, “came the closest to perfect compliance with the Supreme Court’s ‘one-person, one-vote’ rule.”  

At Campaign Legal Center, we are advancing democracy through law. Learn more about our work.