In the final stretch of the 2018 general election, at least 17 super PACs spent $29.3 million but strategically gamed the FEC reporting calendar to keep many or all of their donors a secret before Election Day

Rolling back limitations on political activities by charities and churches could offer billionaire donors a way to not only influence elections anonymously, but also to get a charitable tax deduction for doing so.

New CLC report highlights troubling campaign finance trends from the 2018 election cycle.

CLC sent a letter urging legislators to support transparency and Michigan citizens’ right to effective enforcement of the state’s campaign finance and ethics laws.

Just as the internet has changed society, it has also changed the way campaigns reach out to voters. But regulation of these ads has not kept up. Individual states are taking action to deter foreign interference by moving forward with digital ad disclosure bills.

If Members of Congress need some inspiration for passing effective, comprehensive reform, they need look no further than a few blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue where the District of Columbia City Council has turned 2018 into a banner year for campaign finance reform.

A new brief from CLC on the relationship between disclosure laws and the First Amendment. 

Join us on November 29, 2018 for a call-in event to hear directly from CLC experts about what happened in the 2018 midterms, and what comes next. 

Americans overwhelmingly voted to support measures that end extreme partisan gerrymandering, improve the way we fund elections, expand voting access and move toward a more ethical and accountable government

A series of new lawsuits seek to upend decades of First Amendment jurisprudence affirming that campaign finance disclosure rules are both constitutional and important for our democracy.

On October 25, the New York State Board of Elections approved final regulations for the Democracy Protection Act that will improve the transparency of online campaign advertising and protect against illegal foreign spending in New York elections. 

A recent D.C. District Court decision held that the law required much more disclosure of donors than we’ve seen in recent years. But Federal Election Commission (FEC) inaction and dysfunction has apparently signaled to many groups that they can ignore the law.

A new report from CLC, “Buying Back Democracy: The Evolution of Public Financing in U.S. Elections,” looks at how public financing programs can reorient our elections.

Recently, in a victory for transparency in elections, a D.C. District Court struck down a Federal Election Commission (FEC) rule that had allowed as much as $769 million in dark money to flow into our elections since the 2010 election cycle, according to a new Campaign Legal Center analysis.

During the call policy experts tracking state ballot initiatives at the national level, and leaders working in the states to push their initiatives to victory in November shared trends and strategies with call participants. 

Measure One would increase the transparency of spending in state elections, set limits on lobbying and misuse of campaign funds, and establish a state ethics commission.

The Online Electioneering Transparency and Accountability Act would improve the disclosure of digital political advertising by keeping up with modern trends in campaigns, as the spending by candidates and outside groups increasingly moves online. Maryland should pass this legislation.

Tuesday’s decision also deals a blow to the larger litigation effort to weaken political disclosure laws, which secure public transparency in the electoral context.

The FEC approved a rulemaking petition, filed by CLC,Issue One and five former lawmakers from both parties.