For our democracy to work, the financing of our elections must be transparent. Today, wealthy special interests are spending vast sums of money and hiding their involvement behind anonymous shell corporations and entities, leaving voters in the dark. Effective legislative solutions will put an end to this deception and restore transparency to our elections.

Though redistricting has always been a problem in American politics, the outsized role of partisanship in the redistricting process has received unprecedented attention across the nation since 2010. This guide is intended to arm legislators, good government advocates, and activists with the knowledge needed to design an independent redistricting commission for state legislative or congressional districts. 

On March 11, the Campaign Legal Center and More Equitable Democracy submitted written testimony in support of the New York Voting Rights Act (S. 7528) because it would allow communities of color across the state of New York to participate equally in the election of their representatives. In particular it allows for the adoption of remedies like ranked choice voting and cumulative voting that can enfranchise integrated communities of color (while the federal Voting Rights Act still only offers protections to relatively segregated minority communities).

CLC filed suit against the U.S. Census Bureau under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking access to documents about the Bureau’s efforts to use state driver-license records to help estimate how many adult U.S. citizens live on each census block in the nation.

CLC asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether former U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen violated federal law’s revolving door ban at 18 U.S.C. § 207(f) by appearing to provide behind-the-scenes support for Hong Kong's lobbying efforts less than one year after leaving Congress.

CLC provided testimony in support of SB 372, a bill that would require the state provide information and support to justice involved voters, including voters in jails.

CLC filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) asking it to enforce the law against those behind the Facebook page America Progress Now. In the 2018 midterms, America Progress Now ran digital political ads urging users to vote for green party candidates, but failed both to report its spending to the FEC and to display accurate disclaimers on its ads.

On February 27, 2020, Campaign Legal Center filed suit against the Federal Election Commission for failing to enforce transparency laws for paid election advertising on Facebook.

Campaign Legal Center, Demos and the MacArthur Justice Center filed a brief saying that the district court correctly concluded that late-jailed voters are legally entitled to equal access to the ballot. The brief calls on the appeals court to affirm the lower court’s decision and apply that decision to all voters facing similar circumstances.

A coalition of eleven good government groups who advocate for a better democracy sent a letter to the leadership in the Virginia House of Delegates, urging state lawmakers to put principle over party and move past its history of gerrymandering. By passing the fair maps constitutional amendment now being considered in the Virginia General Assembly and pairing it with strong enabling legislation, state representatives can ensure that voters are able to choose their politicians under fair maps.

CLC filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that Alpha Marine Services violated the ban on federal contractors making political contributions when it gave $100,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC.  

CLC filed an amicus brief in the D.C. Circuit on April 24, 2019, defending a district court decision that struck down the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) “independent expenditure” disclosure rule because it unlawfully narrowed the contributor disclosure requirements in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) challenged the rule—which applies to independent campaign spending that expressly advocates for or against federal candidates—after the FEC used it to dismiss CREW’s complaint against Crossroads GPS, a dark-money group that has spent more than $100 million in federal elections since 2010 without disclosing a single contributor. According to a CLC analysis, the rule had kept as much as $769 million in the dark since 2010, when Citizens United freed corporations and unions to spend general treasury funds in elections.

Campaign Legal Center requested an investigation into whether U.S. Representative Devin Nunes is receiving legal services in violation of House ethics rules.

CLC filed a complaint with DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility asking for an investigation into Attorney General William P. Barr, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen, and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Timothy J. Shea. Their intervention in criminal cases involving associates of President Trump conflicts with legal requirements for the DOJ officials to act impartially and to insulate themselves from political influence.

The 11th Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision in Florida’s case on fines and fees, upholding the preliminary injunction which prevents the state from preventing the plaintiffs from voting based solely on their genuine inability to pay legal financial obligations.

CLC filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that VoteVets made, and Pete Buttigieg’s campaign accepted, up to $639,000 in illegal contributions in the form of coordinated communications. On February 5, 2020, a senior Buttigieg campaign official tweeted, “Pete’s military experience and closing message from Iowa work everywhere especially in Nevada where it’s critical they see this on the air through the caucus.” One week later, the super PAC VoteVets appeared to follow through on that request when it launched $639,000 in pro-Buttigieg ads in Nevada highlighting those exact themes.

CLC filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court defending the constitutionality of the state of Delaware’s partisan balance requirements.

This amicus brief was filed by the League of Women Voters of Michigan in support of Defendants-Appellees.

This amicus brief was filed by Common Cause, the Leadership Now Project, Issue One, Equal Citizens Foundation, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, and Represent Us, in support of Defendants-Appellees.

This amicus brief was filed by the Brennan Center in support of Defendants-Appellees.