Fred Wertheimer for Huffington Post: “FEC Does it Again”

The Huffington Post FEC Does it Again: Permits Large Contribution to National Parties that are Prohibited by Campaign Finance Law By: Fred Wertheimer The FEC did it again last week. The agency voted 4 to 2 to permit the DNC and the RNC to receive large contributions that are prohibited by the Federal Election Campaign Act. […]

Fred Wertheimer for Brennan Center “A New Campaign Finance Jurisprudence”

The Brennan Center for Justice A New Campaign Finance Jurisprudence By: Fred Wertheimer The world of campaign finance jurisprudence radically changed when Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito joined the Supreme Court in 2005 and 2006 to create a new Court majority. The Roberts majority proceeded to overturn a century of the nation’s policies and […]

Democratic FEC Commissioner Joins with Three Republican Commissioners to Gut Political Party Contribution Limits

Statement by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer In voting today to approve an advisory opinion request made jointly by the Republican and Democratic National Committees, four FEC Commissioners invented out of thin air a new opportunity for the national parties to raise contributions in excess of the contribution limits enacted by Congress. The three Republican […]

Watchdogs Urge FEC to Reject RNC & DNC Request to Open Soft Money Loophole for Convention Funds

Democracy 21 joined the Campaign Legal Center in strongly urging the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to reject the request from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC) seeking to undermine the existing federal limits on contributions to national political parties established in the wake of Watergate.  The watchdog groups filed comments on […]

District Court Rejects Challenge to Disclosure Provisions Upheld by Supreme Court in Citizens United

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a challenge to the federal “electioneering communications” disclosure provisions in Independence Institute v. Federal Election Commission (FEC). Last month, Democracy 21 and Public Citizen joined the Campaign Legal Center in filing an amici brief in the case, urging the Court to reject the suit, arguing that […]

District Court Urged to Reject Challenge to Colorado Disclosure Provisions for Electioneering Communications

Democracy 21 and Public Citizen joined the Campaign Legal Centerin filing an amici brief in Independence Institute v. Gessler,urging theU.S. District Court for the District of Colorado to dismiss a challenge to the Colorado Constitution’s “electioneering communications” disclosure provisions. The state law is materially identical to the federal “electioneering communications” disclosure statute which was upheld […]

Campaign Finance Reform Bill Introduced By Representatives David Price and Chris Van Hollen Last Week

On Thursday, September 18, 2014, Representatives David Price (D-NC) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced H.R. 5641, legislation to shut down individual-candidate Super PACs and strengthen the laws that prohibit outside groups from coordinating their activities with candidates and parties. The legislation is a standalone bill that contains the provisions dealing with Super PACs and […]

District Court Urged to Reject Challenge to Disclosure Provisions

On Friday September 19th, Democracy 21 and Public Citizen joined with the Campaign Legal Center in filing an amici brief in Independence Institute v. Federal Election Commission (FEC), urging the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss a challenge to the federal “electioneering communications” disclosure provisions upheld by the Supreme Court as recently […]

Fred Wertheimer for Huffington Post: “Individual-Candidate Super PACs Threaten to Wipe Out Candidate Contribution Limits”

In 1974, Congress enacted limits on contributions to candidates to prevent corruption. Today, these contribution limits are in danger of being wiped out by individual-candidate Super PACs. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 unleashed the world of Super PACs into our elections. Along with them, came individual-candidate Super PACs. Super PACs raise unlimited contributions from […]

District Court Urged to Uphold SEC’s Pay-to-Play Rules Covering State Investment Funds

Democracy 21 joined the Campaign Legal Center in filing an amici brief in New York Republican State Committee v. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) urging the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to deny a preliminary injunction and dismiss the latest challenge to pay-to-play laws. The state Republican parties of New York and Tennessee are challenging an SEC […]