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All the material on this rounded by up Howard deserves reading. One snippet from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article: "In one last sign of how unusual the Supreme Court's disagreement over the Gableman case has become, Abrahamson wrote in her...
Posted in Election Law on July 1, 2010 02:46 PM
Survey USA Poll Finds Prop. 14 Way Ahead, Prop. 15 Way Behind
See here....
Posted in Election Law on June 7, 2010 03:21 PM
May 28 CRS Report on DISCLOSE Act
Yesterday I wrote this post about a new CRS report which mentions the FEC's potential role in enforcing the DISCLOSE Act, if it passes. I have now received a copy of the report and posted it here. Here is the...
Posted in Election Law on June 3, 2010 08:19 AM
RNC Jurisdictional Statement in RNC v. FEC Case
See here. More from SCOTUSBlog. UPDATE: SCOTUSBlog now includes the motion to expedite, which appears to make a ruling before the summer recess incredibly unlikely....
Posted in Election Law on April 23, 2010 11:20 AM
"States Act to Revise Judicial Selection"
USA Today offers this extensive report....
Posted in Election Law on March 31, 2010 10:40 AM
Demos has issued this press release, about this new report....
Posted in Election Law on March 19, 2010 04:57 PM
"New FEC Draft Would Grant AO Request To Preempt State Laws Barring 'Robocalls'"
BNA: "The existence of the new draft appeared to indicate that some in the FEC now are considering granting the American Future Fund request. Such a move would override laws in about a dozen states that currently ban or restrict...
Posted in Election Law on January 9, 2010 08:24 AM
"Deadlocked FEC Vote Dismisses Charges Of Illegal Contributions by Florida Company"
BNA reports on another 3-3 partisan split. In this case, though employees of the company investigated went to jail for illegal contributions, the FEC Republican commissioners voted against enforcement against the company under investigation. "Documents placed on the FEC website...
Posted in Election Law on December 12, 2009 02:44 PM
Democracy 21 on Citizens United and the Meaning of "Corruption"
See here....
Posted in Election Law on November 5, 2009 11:31 AM
Breaking News: FEC Will Not Seek Rehearing En Banc in Emily's List Case
See this press release. If the commissioners release any statements about the decision, I'll link. Note that this decision does not preclude filing a cert. petition in this case. And, from the discussion on the election law listserv, there is...
Posted in Election Law on October 22, 2009 11:57 AM
Brown, Garrett, Karlan, and Olson on the Upcoming Supreme Court Term
This event at USC Law looks like it would be a lot of fun....
Posted in Election Law on September 15, 2009 08:00 AM
Tired of 3-3 Ties at the FEC on 527 Enforcement? Try a 2-2 Tie (with Two Recused)
See Here (MUR 6082)....
Posted in Election Law on June 23, 2009 08:55 AM
FEC Split Gets Nastier: Latest Battle Over FOIA Requests and the Attorney-Client Privilege
Back in March, I noted one of the many recent 3-3 party-line splits at the FEC, this one over the Romney campaign and reimbursement for airplane expenses. This was before things got even worse, with serious concerns emerging whether the...
Posted in Election Law on June 17, 2009 11:05 AM
"Reformers Fear Quick Vote on Sullivan Could Discourage Other Changes at FEC"
BNA has a must-read (or at least must-read if you have a paid subscription) report. "Despite these complaints [about deadlock at the FEC, officials and outside observers indicate privately that McGahn and Walther apparently continue to benefit from strong support...
Posted in Election Law on June 17, 2009 07:51 AM
Washington Post Editorial Board Notices Disturbing 3-3 Splits at FEC
Finally....
Posted in Election Law on June 14, 2009 09:31 PM
"Senate Panel To Vote on Federal Election Commission Nominee"
CQ Politics offers this report. BNA reports ($) on bipartisan support for Sullivan, and says: "Schumer indicated during the hearing that he was aware of concerns about the FEC's recent operations, including an increasing number of 3-3 deadlocked votes on...
Posted in Election Law on June 11, 2009 07:42 AM
Things Getting Worse, Much Worse, in Terms of FEC Enforcement
Check out this extraordinary statement of reasons issued by Commissioners Weintraub and Bauerly involving apparently blatant violations of campaign law by a candidate committee in failing to make a good faith effort to file accurate contribution reports. At first, the...
Posted in Election Law on June 10, 2009 02:16 PM
"3-3 Votes On The FEC: Why So Frequent? What Do They Mean?"
Larry Norton and Friends: So is anything different now? Yes and no. The current crop of 3-3 votes, while split along party lines, certainly cannot be characterized as protecting party members and loyalists. The three Democrats are repeatedly voting to...
Posted in Election Law on May 21, 2009 01:23 PM
Responding to this post, Mike Franz sends along the following thoughts: I saw your post on FEC deadlocks--I've been pondering this myself, especially in light of my forthcoming piece. I don't have the vote data updated yet for this current...
Posted in Election Law on May 15, 2009 12:05 PM
Democrats v. Republicans....
Posted in Election Law on May 14, 2009 07:45 AM
The FEC, the Times and the Post
There are some major, troubling things happening at the FEC. If you follow this blog, you know that there have been a number of key 3-3 splits along party lines in recent months, on some important, high profile complaints. As...
Posted in Election Law on May 4, 2009 08:01 AM
Roll Call reports today that tomorrow there will be three open seats on the FEC (McGahn, Walther, and Weintraub), which Senator Obama can fill. I believe we need a fundamental rethinking of the FEC's structure and purpose, especially given the...
Posted in Election Law on April 30, 2009 08:14 AM
Yet Another Partisan 3-3 Split at the FEC
BNA reports ($)....
Posted in Election Law on April 22, 2009 07:37 AM
See here....
Posted in Election Law on April 13, 2009 01:59 PM
"New Presidential Guidance Restricts Lobbyist Communications Regarding Stimulus Funds"
A new Covington E-alert....
Posted in Election Law on March 26, 2009 04:38 PM
Another 3-3 Partisan Split at the FEC
This is getting to be a pattern....
Posted in Election Law on March 23, 2009 08:38 PM
Another Partisan 3-3 Split at the FEC
This ($) is becoming a trend....
Posted in Election Law on March 19, 2009 08:25 AM
Another 3-3 Partisan Split on FEC
See this statement of reasons from the three Republican commissioners concerning a dispute over the payments of flight expenses for Romney for President volunteers. For more FEC-related developments, see here....
Posted in Election Law on March 16, 2009 02:50 PM
This is very interesting on many levels. Thanks for a faithful reader for passing it along....
Posted in Election Law on January 28, 2009 09:39 PM
More Evidence of a New, Partisan FEC
It is often said that detractors of the FEC overemphasize the number of 3-3 splits, especially along party lines. But I suggested in October that a new era of partisanship may be coming. (See also Larry Norton's thoughts and see...
Posted in Election Law on December 16, 2008 03:04 PM
Still More on Commissioner Mason and the FEC
I've received a few off-the-record emails now from people who don't want to be quoted the upshot of which is the following: if you look at the history of Commissioner Mason's voting on the commission, there have been times when...
Posted in Election Law on May 22, 2008 09:00 AM
Will the FEC, With a Current 3-2 Democratic Majority, Fine the 2004 Kerry Campaign?
See this story in the Politico. Blog readers may remember that the FEC split 3-3 on party lines over an audit of the 2004 Bush election committee....
Posted in Election Law on May 30, 2007 02:22 PM
Did President Bush Exceed Spending under the Public Finance Limits in the 2004 General Election?
The FEC debated this question and split 3-3. See: Statement of Democratic commissioners Statement of Republican commissioners Statement of Commissioner Weintraub UPDATE: See this Washington Post report and these comments by Bob Bauer....
Posted in Election Law on March 22, 2007 03:50 PM
Eliza Newlin Carney's most recent Rules of the Game column is up. It begins: "Even as Democrats enact new ethics rules for Congress, a little-noticed federal court ruling has actually made it harder to punish public officials who exchange favors...
Posted in Election Law on February 26, 2007 06:37 AM
See this report ($) from BNA's Money and Politics Report....
Posted in Election Law on October 12, 2006 08:51 AM
Von Spakovsky Electioneering Communications Provision Fails
It failed on a party line 3-3 vote. More to come. UPDATE: See this early AP report. For those who support an easing of the rules, it appears the issue will be resolved in any case through the WRTL litigation...
Posted in Election Law on August 29, 2006 09:18 AM
The comments are here. See also this blog entry, which explains: In their joint comments, the Legal Center and Democracy 21 object to Commissioner von Spakovsky's attempt to circumvent the normal rulemaking process by rushing the proposed "interim" rule through...
Posted in Election Law on August 22, 2006 03:29 PM
Hasen: Can "Proactive Bailout" Save VRA Renewal from Constitutional Attack?
In my testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, I made four recommendations to make the VRA more likely to be upheld against a constitutional challenge that it exceeds Congressional power under the 14th and 15th Amendments. These proposals...
Posted in Election Law on May 16, 2006 05:03 PM
Gary Andres offers this commentary in the Washington Times. It begins: "Congress may be in for some surprises if it tries to alter lobbying and ethics rules without considering how these changes affect campaign finance and elections. Bifurcating these issues...
Posted in Election Law on March 2, 2006 08:02 AM
"Closing In On Election Reform; Top Democrats Back Public Financing Plan"
The Hartford Courtant offers this report. See also this AP report. Thanks to Dewey Dow for the links....
Posted in Election Law on November 29, 2005 08:24 AM
Is the California Redistricting Initiative in Substantial Compliance With California law?
The Los Angeles Times article cited in my post below notes the following problems with the redistricting initiative: "according to backers of the initiative, it gives legislative leaders one day more than the Lockyer-approved version to select the retired judges...
Posted in Election Law on July 6, 2005 09:21 AM
Seventh Circuit: No Constitutional Right to An Absentee Ballot
See here, another very interesting election law opinion by Judge Posner....
Posted in Election Law on October 15, 2004 03:00 PM
More on Napa County Ballot Tampering Trial
Following up on this post, you can find additional coverage of this trial here, here, here, here, here, and here....
Posted in Election Law on May 30, 2004 09:08 AM
Yesterday (while I was in Sacramento and unable to blog), the FEC held its meeting to determine what it should do about regulating 527s in this election cycle. The most important votes were the 4-2 vote against the Toner-Thomas proposal,...
Posted in Election Law on May 14, 2004 07:49 AM
Counting Noses on the 527 Issue: The Real Possibility of a 3-3 Tie
As the FEC undertakes its very important rulemaking on 527s, let's not forget the specific issue that is at stake: a proposed draft rule on when 527s (and perhaps other non-profits) are to be treated as "political committees" under the...
Posted in Election Law on April 14, 2004 09:30 AM
McCain on McCain-Feingold and on the "Disgraceful" Act of 527s
In this wide-ranging interview with Senator John McCain, the following Q&A appears: Q: You mentioned concern about the tone of the campaign perhaps turning off that middle electorate in what is clearly a critically important election year. Does that mean...
Posted in Election Law on April 6, 2004 07:15 AM
Should the FEC's Rulemaking Go Into Effect for this Election Cycle?
I have now had a chance to give an initial read through the FEC General Counsel's draft proposed rulemaking which will be considered initially by the FEC on Thursday. The FEC's decision on Thursday won't mean much; right now all...
Posted in Election Law on March 2, 2004 04:24 PM
BREAKING NEWS - FEC Delays Consideration of 527 Advisory Opinion
Flooded with comments on the draft advisory opinion on today's FEC agenda, the FEC has decided to postpone a decision pending further review. (information via Moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com. ) Marty Lederman's comments here explain what is at stake for many of the...
Posted in Election Law on February 5, 2004 07:34 AM
Oral argument in 7th Circuit Campaign Finance case
You can find a link to the audio from oral argument in Wisconsin Right to Life v. Schober here. Briefs are here. Thanks to Ed Feigenbaum for the pointer....
Posted in Election Law on January 16, 2004 07:15 AM
Did Dean do a "Bait and Switch" on Campaign Funding?
A supporter of a Democratic candidate for President other than Howard Dean directs me to this request for an advisory opinion by the Gephardt campaign, which basically asks whether a presidential candidate who has agreed to accept public financing and...
Posted in Election Law on November 30, 2003 08:48 PM