This item appears on the Campaign Legal Center’s new blog.

Anita S. Krishnakumar has posted Towards An Interest-Group-Based Approach to Lobbying Regulation on BEPress (forthcoming, Alabama Law Review). Here is the abstract: Recent lobbying scandals involving Jack Abramoff and Representative Tom DeLay have created a much-needed impetus for legislative reform… Continue reading

Richard Brand sends along the following response in his ongoing debate with Smartmatic: VENEZUELA INVESTMENT IN VOTING FIRM WAS NO ROUTINE LOAN In his letter to the editor of The Miami Herald of April 29, Jack Blaine, the president of… Continue reading

The Financial Times (London) offers this report, which begins: “The last three election cycles in the US have been marked by controversy not only about candidates, but also about the fairness and accuracy of the voting process. And as… Continue reading

Language for extending the expiring provisions of the Voting Rights Act will be released later today. I’ll post the language later today when it is publicly available. Meanwhile, Ed Blum is not happy: Over the last few years, the… Continue reading

Jack Blaine, president of Sequoia Voting Systems, offers this letter to the editor in response to Richard Brand’s March 27 Other Views piece, Forget Dubai — worry about Smartmatic instead:

The Hill offers Opponents see GOP win, which begins: “Opponents of the House GOP leadership’s upcoming lobbying and ethics reform bill were pessimistic yesterday that they could defeat it, noting that increased support among Democrats would likely offset any… Continue reading

The New York Times offers this report. It begins: “After appearing to falter Thursday, the House of Representatives is once again poised to pass a new package of lobbying restrictions, thanks largely to the efforts of an alliance of… Continue reading

The Supreme Court decided three cases today (including the Anna Nicole Smith case argued the same day as the Vermont campaign finance case). The next opportunity appears to be May 15.

Roll Call offers this report (paid subscription required), which begins: “Senior House Democrats launched the latest salvo against the 2005 budget reconciliation act Friday, when 11 lawmakers, led by Rep. John Conyers (Mich.), filed suit in federal court asserting the… Continue reading

Roll Call offers this report (paid subscription required). As I told my students last week, it is hard for me to imagine any serious presidential candidate agreeing to take matching funds in the primary season unless the rules are changed… Continue reading

Allison Hayward offers these thoughts about recent FEC activity regarding the press exemption.

AP offers this report, which begins: “A federal judge has ruled that parts of Rhode Island’s campaign finance laws regarding ballot questions are unconstitutional. In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres struck down provisions that banned corporations,… Continue reading

The Dayton Daily News offers this report, which begins: “The Ohio Elections Commission on Thursday found that Republican U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt violated campaign law by claiming on her Web site last year that she had two college degrees… Continue reading