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Latest Articles:Hispanic Leadership Fund, Inc. v. FEC On August 10, 2012, the Hispanic Leadership Fund, Inc. (“HLF”), a Virginia-based 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The case is a pre-enforcement, as-applied challenge to the FEC’s application of the “clearly identified federal candidate” provision at 2 U.S.C. §431(18), in the context of disclosure requirements for “electioneering communications,” 2 U.S.C. §434(f). HLF also filed a Motion for Preliminary and Permanent Injunction. Read more... La Botz v. FEC On September 5, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an Order and Memorandum Opinion denying the FEC’s Motion to Dismiss. The court concluded that the FEC’s decision in dismissing an administrative complaint filed by Dan La Botz, a member of Ohio’s Socialist Party and a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010, was contrary to law and was not supported by substantial evidence. Read more... AO 2012-30 Company May Process Larger Text Contributions and Share Short Codes A telecommunications company may use text messaging technology to process campaign contributions in excess of $50 per billing cycle and $200 per calendar year or election cycle. It may also share premium common short codes among various federal campaigns and committees when processing such texted transactions. Read more... James v. FEC On August 31, 2012, Virginia James filed suit against the Commission in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the Federal Election Campaign Act’s (the Act) biennial limit on an individual’s contributions to federal candidates. The plaintiff claims this limit impinges upon her First Amendment rights to association and speech. Read more... Kentucky Special Election Reporting: 4th District Kentucky will hold a Special General Election to fill the U.S. House seat in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District vacated by Representative Geoff Davis. The Special General will be held November 6, 2012. Read more... Commission Cites Committee for Failure to File Massachusetts Pre-Primary Report On September 4, 2012, the Commission cited one campaign committee for failing to file the 12-Day Pre-Primary Election Report required by the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) for the Massachusetts primary election held on September 6, 2012. Read more... AO 2012-28 Committees Responsible for Text Contribution Compliance CTIA—The Wireless Association (“CTIA”) and its members may offer their text-to-donate services to political committees without assuming responsibility for the legality of the resulting contributions under the Federal Election Campaign Act (the “Act”) and Commission regulations, when the contributions are processed by a connection aggregator. That responsibility rests solely with the recipient political committees. Read more... AO 2012-26 Campaigns Responsible for Compliance of Text Contributions Campaigns that receive texted contributions are solely responsible for determining the eligibility of contributors, and must satisfy their responsibilities under the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) by employing the proposed safeguards. Read more... AO 2012-27 Some of Group’s Communications Ruled Not Express Advocacy or Solicitations Three of the seven advertisements proposed by the National Defense Committee (NDC) do not expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified federal candidate under the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) and Commission regulations. Additionally, two of the group’s four proposed donation requests would not be considered solicitations under the Act. Read more... Commission Certifies Matching Funds for Jill Stein for President On August 28, 2012, the Commission declared Jill Stein for President eligible to receive federal matching funds and certified a payment of $100,000 for the 2012 primary election. Read more... Alternative Disposition of Advisory Opinion Request 2012-29 On August 23, 2012, the Commission considered two draft responses to an Advisory Opinion Request involving a proposal by Hawaiian Airlines to organize appearances by U.S. Senate candidates. The Commission voted on both drafts, but neither draft received the four affirmative votes required to render an opinion. Read more... Commission Cites Committees for Failure to File Arizona Pre-Primary Report On August 24, 2012, the Commission cited two campaign committees for failing to file the 12-Day Pre-Primary Election Report required by the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act), for the Arizona primary election held on August 28, 2012. Read more...
On October 3, 2012, the Commission will host roundtable workshops on reporting and electronic filing to help committees prepare for the October Quarterly/Monthly and Pre-General Reports. New this year, the roundtable workshops will also be offered as a webinar for those who cannot attend in-person. Read more... AO 2012-23 Trade Associations May Solicit Members for Affiliated Cooperative's PAC With prior approval, a group of trade associations may solicit their corporate members’ executives and stockholders for contributions to the separate segregated fund (PAC) of an affiliated cooperative. Read more... Commission Certifies Matching Funds for Johnson The Commission has certified the payment of $73,692.29 in federal matching funds to presidential candidate Gary Earl Johnson for the 2012 primary election. The United States Treasury Department transferred the certified amount on August 7. Read more... Alternative Disposition of Advisory Opinion Request 2012-24 On August 2, 2012, the Commission considered three draft responses to an advisory opinion request involving Dean Peterson’s proposal to publish and market a House candidate’s autobiography. The Commission voted on two drafts, but no draft received the four affirmative votes required to render an opinion. Read more... Commission Cites Committees for Failure to File Florida and Wisconsin Pre-Primary Reports On August 10, 2012, the Commission cited five campaign committees for failing to file the 12-Day Pre-Primary Election Report required by the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act), for the Florida and Wisconsin primary elections held on August 14, 2012. Read more... Commission Cites Committee for Failure to File Hawaii Pre-Primary Report On August 8, 2012, the Commission cited a campaign committee for failing to file the 12-Day Pre-Primary Election Report required by the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act), for the Hawaii primary election held on August 11, 2012. Read more... AO 2012-22 Commercial Website to Collect Candidate Contributions A corporation may establish a commercial website to provide information about federal candidates and process users’ contributions to the candidates they choose. Read more... Commission Cites Committees for Failure to File Missouri and Washington On August 3, 2012, the Commission cited three campaign committees for failing to file the 12-Day Pre-Primary Election Report required by the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act), for the Missouri and Washington primary elections held on August 7, 2012. Read more... Commission Cites Committee for Failure to File Tennessee Pre-Primary Report On July 31, 2012, the Commission cited a campaign committee for failing to file the 12-Day Pre-Primary Election Report required by the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act), for the Tennessee primary election held on August 2, 2012. Read more... Commission Cites Committees for Failure to File July Quarterly Report The Commission cited three campaign committees for failing to file the July Quarterly Report required by the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act). Read more... Commission Statement on Van Hollen v. FEC On March 30, 2012, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, in Van Hollen v. FEC, Civ. No. 11-0766 (D.D.C. Mar. 30, 2012), found that the Commission regulation at 11 CFR 104.20(c)(9) is invalid. That regulation, which was adopted in 2007 and governed electioneering communications by corporations and labor organizations, required that their donors be disclosed only if their donations were “made for the purpose of furthering electioneering communications.” Read more... Michigan Special Election Reporting: 11th District Michigan will hold a Special Primary and a Special General Election to fill the U.S. House seat in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District vacated by Representative Thaddeus McCotter. The Special Primary will be held September 5, 2012, and the Special General will be held November 6, 2012. Read more... Roundtable on Pre-Election Communications On August 28, 2012, the Commission will host a roundtable workshop to review the rules and reporting requirements for specific types of pre-election communications, including electioneering communications disseminated within 60 days of the general election, independent expenditures and coordinated communications. Read more... Stop this Insanity, Inc. v. FEC On July 10, 2012, Stop This Insanity, Inc. (STI), its separate segregated fund (SSF) and potential contributors filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the Commission’s application of the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) and its response to the organization’s recent advisory opinion request (AOR). Read more... FEC Summarizes 15-Month Campaign Activity for the 2012 Election Cycle Federal candidates, parties and political action committees (PACs) collected more than $2.9 billion and spent more than $2 billion, between January 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012. Read more... Free Speech v. FEC On June 14, 2012, Free Speech filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming challenging the constitutionality of the Commission’s regulations, policies and practices regarding the determination of when a communication constitutes express advocacy, whether a communication is a solicitation, and whether a group is a political committee. Read more... McCutcheon et al. v. FEC On June 22, 2012, Shaun McCutcheon and the Republican National Committee (together, plaintiffs) filed suit against the Commission in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the Federal Election Campaign Act’s (the Act) biennial limit on an individual’s combined contributions to federal candidates, parties, and PACs. Read more... U.S. v. Danielczyk On June 28, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld the ban on corporate contributions in connection with federal elections. This appellate court ruling reversed a district court decision that would have allowed corporate contributions, based on the lower court’s interpretation of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC. Read more... American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock On June 25, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a decision of the Montana Supreme Court that had upheld a Montana state law prohibiting corporations from making expenditures supporting or opposing candidates or political parties. Read more... AO 2012-21 Corporations and Their PACs Disaffiliated After Spin-Off Following a reorganization and spin-off, Primerica, Inc. and Citigroup are disaffiliated entities for the purposes of the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act). As a result, Primerica’s planned separate segregated fund (SSF) will not be affiliated with Citigroup’s SSF. Read more... Commission Certifies Matching Funds for Roemer and Johnson The Commission has certified payments of $66,490.99 in federal matching funds to presidential candidate Charles E. “Buddy” Roemer III and $130,058.91 to presidential candidate Gary Earl Johnson for the 2012 primary election. The U.S. Treasury Department transferred the amounts certified by the Commission on Tuesday, July 3. Read more... July Reporting Reminder The following reports are due in July: All principal campaign committees of House and Senate candidates must file a quarterly report by July 15, 2012. Read more...
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The FEC Record is produced by the Information Division, Office of Communications. Toll free 800-424-9530; Local 202-694-1100; E-mail info@fec.gov. Greg Scott, Director; Alex Knott, Senior Writer/Editor; Myles Martin, Editor |