“Anonymous Political Ads Seen as Legal”

NJ.com offers this article on whether a Northampton City Council member may be punished for failing to disclose his election committee’s names on campaign mailers. The local prosecutor suggests that the disclosure requirement is unconstitutional. In fact, that is probably a misreading of the applicable Supreme Court precedent, which appears to bar disclosure of the identity of someone making a face-to-face solicitation or spending small sums on campaign speech but allow states to require disclosure in mass mailings, particularly those sent by candidates. More information in Chapter 21 (“Campaign Finance Dislcosure”) in the Lowenstein & Hasen election law casebook.

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