Monthly Archives: October 2014
“FEC Votes Suggest Gridlock is Easing”
A Politico report on today’s meeting begins: “The deep freeze at the Federal Election Commission may be thawing.”
“Let’s Be Real Here”
FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub dissents from today’s rulemaking following Citizens United.
Vice Chair Ann Ravel (who voted for the new rule) and Commissioner Steven Walther (who voted against) also issued statements.
Breaking: New FEC Rules
BNA reports. Looks like new rules to implement Citizens United passed 4-2, but without (for the moment) a decision to move forward on disclosure. The FEC also approved (again, 4-2) the DNC/RNC request for an advisory opinion permitting the… Continue reading
Why Breyer and Kagan Did Not Dissent in NC Voting Case, and What That Tells Us About WI Voter ID Case
Yesterday’s Supreme Court order in the North Carolina voting case (which Justin covered here while I was travelling and which Howard rounds up) reached the result I had been expecting: a reversal of the 4th Circuit order restoring… Continue reading
Theory to Practice: The Democracy Facts Label Goes Live
Yesterday, Rick linked to a press release from the San Francisco Ethics Commission, announcing the launch of a great new campaign finance dashboard. The site has a few different tools to get campaign finance information, and more important, to… Continue reading
10/9 FEC Meeting: Citizens United, McCutcheon & More
Late Wednesday, the FEC posted several drafts of rules to be considered at a meeting Thursday. One of the drafts implements the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, removing prohibitions on labor and corporate spending on independent political activity; it… Continue reading
On Party Fundraising for 2016 Conventions
“Rules for Provisional Ballots All Over the Map”
Pam Fessler tries to make sense of the provisional ballot landscape for NPR.
Right Questions, Wrong Answers in Voter ID Decision
Prof. Chris Elmendorf, over at the Election Law @ Moritz site, dives deep on the 7th Circuit’s WI voter ID decision. It begins:
Earlier this week Rick Hasen blasted Judge Easterbook’s opinion upholding Wisconsin’s voter ID requirement as… Continue reading
Roundup on the GAO Report on Voter ID
Politico, Natl Journal, the Wall St. Journal, and the Washington Times discuss the GAO report; Sec. Kobach responds.
Redistricting Made Simple
Change IL has a great new animated digital tool explaining how redistricting works. Even those who don’t like redistricting commissions have 18 slides to love.
“Dark Money Still a Bit Player”
CCP in The Hill: What would you call an election in which over 95 percent of campaign spending is funded by groups that publicly disclose the names and addresses of their donors to the Federal Election Commission, along with… Continue reading
“How Campaign Finance Laws Make Florida Governor’s Race Unique”
On Miami public radio. According to the Campaign for Public Integrity, the campaigns of Charlie Crist and Rick Scott are responsible for about 3 percent of the spending in the race.