Category Archives: campaign finance

“Four States Start Inquiries Into Recurring Donation Tactics of Both Parties”

July 9, 2021, 9:05 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

NYT: Four state attorneys general have begun looking into the online fund-raising practices of both political parties, specifically seeking information about the use of prechecked boxes to enroll contributors in recurring donation programs that spurred a wave of fraud… Continue reading

“The Revenge of John Roberts”

July 9, 2021, 8:16 amcampaign finance, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Rolling Stone: “Combined, the AFPF and Brnovich decisions continue the Roberts court’s decade-plus track record of undermining the hard-fought voting laws enacted during the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-corruption reforms passed in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.… Continue reading

“Toyota stops donations to election objectors after PAC takes ads out against company”

July 9, 2021, 4:34 amcampaign finance, election subversion riskDan Tokaji

Detroit News: Toyota Motor Corp. will no longer donate to members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election in January, the company said Thursday, after facing blowback over corporate contributions….Like many other companies, Toyota announced it would… Continue reading

FEC Appeal to SCOTUS in Ted Cruz Case

July 8, 2021, 4:06 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtDan Tokaji

The jurisdictional statement in FEC v. Cruz, involving the limit on post-election contributions to repay candidates’ loans to their own campaigns, is here.

Lloyd Mayer on AFP v. Bonta

July 6, 2021, 8:46 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

In Law360: My read of the opinion is that it contains two significant holdings that will both encourage future constitutional challenges to these requirements and give those challenges a better chance of succeeding than they had under prior rulings….The… Continue reading

“Supreme Court ruling opens door to more campaign finance challenges”

July 6, 2021, 4:42 amcampaign financeDan Tokaji

The Hill: “In Thursday’s 6-3 decision, split along ideological lines, justices struck down a California statute requiring charities to reveal their donors to state officials…. Experts say Roberts’s opinion effectively toughens the standard of review for all laws that… Continue reading

“The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Have Laid the Groundwork for the Devastation to Come”

July 6, 2021, 3:43 amcampaign finance, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern on Slate: Until about a week ago, we heard a lot of media stories of a confounding and unpredictable court, with improbable lineups and unlikely bedfellows. And sure, there has been a lot… Continue reading

“The Supreme Court is Putting Democracy at Risk”

July 1, 2021, 2:21 pmcampaign finance, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written this guest essay for the New York Times. It begins: In two disturbing rulings closing out the Supreme Court’s term, the court’s six-justice conservative majority, over the loud protests of its three-liberal minority, has shown itself hostile… Continue reading

“Toyota leads companies in election-objector donations”

June 28, 2021, 7:25 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Axios: Nearly three-dozen corporate PACs have donated at least $5,000 to Republicans who objected to certifying the 2020 election, yet Toyota leads by a substantial margin.Why it matters: Following Jan. 6, huge segments of corporate America rethought their political-giving programs.… Continue reading

Bob Stern Gives Oral History of the California Political Reform Act to the FPPC

June 22, 2021, 7:41 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

You can watch here:

“Two dark money groups shut down following CREW complaints”

June 22, 2021, 7:38 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

Matt Corley writes.

“Letter: Campaign Finance Regulations and Public Policy”

June 11, 2021, 10:58 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Martin Gilens, Shawn Patterson Jr., & Pavielle Haines in APSR: Despite a century of efforts to constrain money in American elections, there is little consensus on whether campaign finance regulations make any appreciable difference. Here we take advantage of… Continue reading

Campaign Finance Ruling in Canada Relies in Part on a “Structural” Inference

June 11, 2021, 7:36 amcampaign finance, comparative election lawRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Yasmin Dawood: Thanks very much to Rick for the invitation to write this guest post. Earlier this week, a lower court in Ontario issued an important campaign finance decision, Working Families … Continue reading

“State GOPs Can’t Explain Millions In ‘Trump Victory’ Cash”

June 9, 2021, 7:05 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Roger Sollenberger for the Daily Beast: Months after the Federal Election Commission notified several GOP state parties of major gaps in their 2020 fundraising and spending reports, the committees are correcting their numbers—but they still can’t explain why the discrepancies… Continue reading