Campaign Finance PolicyCLC Blog Update: Cases of Interest It is a busy time in campaign finance and election law, with a growing number of cases on court dockets around the country, particularly those challenging existing campaign finance laws. With all the new developments, it seemed a particularly good time to update our “Cases of Interest,” providing a brief summary of pertinent cases and the Campaign Legal Center’s involvement. The Latest Challenge Before the Roberts Court Challenges to our nation’s election laws have surged since the appointment of Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito significantly altered the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court. Multiple campaign finance cases have been accepted by the Roberts court and the latest will be heard next week. Break Provides No Breakthrough on FEC Standoff The Easter recess has come and gone and the Federal Election Commission is still held hostage by President Bush and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The two have presented Senators with a Hobson’s choice — either vote for an individual who is wholly unworthy of Senate confirmation, or refuse to let this nomination go through and thus allow the commission charged with enforcing federal campaign laws to be brought to a halt during an election year. Vermont Poised to Adopt Instant Runoff Voting Since the 2000 election, we have heard a lot of talk about reforming our electoral process. As someone whose private law practice has included state and local governments as clients, I have seen many of them struggle with the rising costs of conducting elections. And so I wonder why state and local governments don’t adopt instant runoff voting, or IRV. It saves time, money and is a healthy reform for our democracy. NAM Sues to Keep Public In the Dark In the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal rarely did one hear the argument that lobbyists should operate in greater secrecy or with less accountability. Yet this is precisely the position asserted by the National Association of Manufacturers in its lawsuit challenging Section 207 of the recently-enacted Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. SpeechNow.org’s Opposition to CLC & D21 Amici Participation Rejected The order issued earlier today by Judge Robertson in SpeechNow.org v. FEC requires no further explanation. CLC Files Amicus in SpeechNow.org 527 Case SpeechNow.org's lawsuit challenging the contribution limits imposed on so-called “independent committees,” asks in essence that the rich be permitted to contribute millions of dollars without full disclosure or regulation to 527 organizations often operated by individuals closely associated with candidates and party committees. As the amicus brief filed today by the Legal Center and Democracy 21 makes clear, the suit ignores three decades of Supreme Court precedent. Bad-Mouthing Aside, Ethics Law Is a Step Forward The misinformation campaign directed at the new lobbying and ethics reforms began before the ink had even dried on the surprisingly strong law. The anonymous quotes from lobbyists who “asked not to be identified” came fast and furious. Unfortunately, distortions of the law have now spread to the presidential campaign. Von Spakovsky Should Not Be Confirmed Doomsday scenarios of an unregulated 2008 election are being threatened in an attempt to force through the confirmation of a FEC nominee, Hans von Spakovsky, who is deeply embroiled in the scandals over the politicization of DOJ. There are a variety of ways to resolve the current impasse over the nominee whose case for confirmation cannot stand on the merits. No Matching Funds to Block Recent allegations that Senators Feingold and Obama are blocking the distribution of public matching funds to Presidential primary candidates are unfounded and untrue. |
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