"Vitter pays election case fine"

This news story begins: "U.S. Sen. David Vitter recently paid a $25,000 penalty to the Federal Election Commission for failing to disclose that his campaign paid for calls to voters during the final weeks of his 2004 Senate race." Another snippet:

One FEC commissioner, Hans A. von Spakovsky, dissented from the agency finding. Spakovsky reasoned that the first batch of calls did not constitute public political advertising subject to the law.

Spakovsky also wrote that a disclaimer during the second call would have skewed the responses.

"From a public policy standpoint, the majority’s view that research and polling calls require disclaimers is something that will make social scientists and pollsters shudder with dismay," Spakovsky wrote.

Posted by Rick Hasen at October 31, 2007 09:39 AM