Unit II Election Process. FEC – Federal Election Commission BCRA – Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Buckley vs. Valeo Citizens United vs. FEC

Unit IIElection Process

FEC – Federal Election Commission BCRA – Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Buckley vs. Valeo Citizens United vs. FEC PACS

Political Action Committees Groups formed to push soft money and influence campaign

527’s and 501’s Groups created under specific tax codes that do not fall under FECA but engage in

political activities and attempt to influence elections A method to avoid regulation Target by BCRA

Hard money = Federal money Political donations raised from federally permissible sources within the limits

established by BCRA Donated directly to candidates to support campaign

Soft money = Nonfederal money Political donations made in such a way as to avoid federal regulations. Unregulated money donated to political parties, not candidates, that go towards party

building activities ,such as get out the vote campaigns, and “issue ads” or non-direct candidate ads

Beginning of time—Civil War: No regulation Civil War—1910

Gilded Age Exceptionally scandalous politicians nationally

Boss Tweed 1868: 75% of money used in congressional elections

through party assessments 1867: Naval Appropriations Bill

First federal effort to regulate campaign finance Aimed at stopping the political shakedown naval yard

workers for political contributions Prohibits officers and employees of the fed. gov’t from

soliciting contributions 1883: Civil Service Reform Act (Pendleton Act) prohibits

the same solicitation of all federal workerswww.mit.edu/~17.251/finance.ppt

Corrupt Practices Acts of 1911 and 1925 Set disclosure requirements for House

and Senate Elections Spending limits ($25k for Senate; $5k for

House) Ridiculously weak and regularly violated

1971 Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)

1976: Buckley v. Valeo (1976)www.mit.edu/~17.251/finance.ppt

Buckley v. Valeo, (1976), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a federal law which set limits on campaign contributions, but ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech, and struck down portions of the law. The court also stated candidates can give unlimited amounts of money to their own campaigns.

Original ProvisionOriginal Provision Effect of Effect of Buckley v. ValeoBuckley v. Valeo

Expenditure limitsExpenditure limits

Overall spending limits (Congress and Overall spending limits (Congress and president)president)

Struck down partially Struck down partially (freedom of speech)(freedom of speech)

Limits on the use of candidates’ own resourcesLimits on the use of candidates’ own resources Struck down entirely Struck down entirely (freedom of speech)(freedom of speech)

Limits on media expendituresLimits on media expenditures Struck down entirely Struck down entirely (freedom of speech)(freedom of speech)

Independent expenditure limitsIndependent expenditure limits Struck down entirely Struck down entirely (freedom of speech)(freedom of speech)

www.mit.edu/~17.251/finance.ppt

Original ProvisionOriginal Provision Effect of Effect of Buckley v. ValeoBuckley v. Valeo

Contribution limitsContribution limits

Individual limits: $1k/candidate/electionIndividual limits: $1k/candidate/election AffirmedAffirmed

PAC limits: $5k/candidate/electionPAC limits: $5k/candidate/election AffirmedAffirmed

Party committee limits: $5k/candidate/electionParty committee limits: $5k/candidate/election AffirmedAffirmed

Cap on total contributions individual can make to Cap on total contributions individual can make to all candidates ($25k)all candidates ($25k)

Struck down (freedom of Struck down (freedom of speech)speech)

Cap on spending “on behalf of candidates” by Cap on spending “on behalf of candidates” by partiesparties

AffirmedAffirmed

www.mit.edu/~17.251/finance.ppt

Purpose In 1975, Congress created the Federal Election

Commission (FEC) to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)

the statute that governs the financing of federal elections.

The duties of the FEC, which is an independent regulatory agency, are to

disclose campaign finance information enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and

prohibitions on contributions, oversee the public funding of Presidential elections.

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) 1975

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) 2002 Major changes

under BCRA

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002, also known as "McCain-Feingold," after its sponsors, is the most recent major federal law on campaign finance, which revised some of the legal limits of expenditure set in 1974, and prohibited unregulated contributions (called "soft money") to national political parties. ‘Soft money’ also refers to funds spent by independent organizations that do not specifically advocate the election or defeat of candidates, and are not contributed directly to candidate campaigns. Limits PACS Prohibits contributions made from Corporate/Union

treasury funds 60 days before an election

Meant to close loopholes that allowed soft money to flow into campaign committees and to control advertising said to be aimed at issues but actually performing as campaign promotion

Challenged in McConnell vs FEC BCRA was confirmed by the S.C.

Eliminated all soft money contributions to national party committees

Increased individual limit from $1,000 to $2,000 with index for inflation ($2,300 in 2008)

Banned the use of certain political communications by corporate, union or incorporated non-profit committees within 30 days of primary or convention, or 60 days of general (political communications)

Millionaire’s amendment

“Stand by your ad” (“I’m Bruce Lunsford and I endorsed this message”)

In General The financing of federal

elections Specifically

Disclosure of financial activity

Contributions Receiving and Giving

Expenditures Candidate support

activities Federal election activities Soft Money more restricted: PACS and

Corporations/Unions

Overrules MCConnell in part: Overrules the ban on independent expenditures

paid for by corporations or unions out of their treasuries 60 days before an election

Overturns ban on independent expenditures from corporate and union treasuries "If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits

Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech," - Justice Kennedy

It depends! Candidate

Candidate specific activities

Contributions to other candidates, parties or causes

DNC/RNC Federal candidates Allocated nationally

State Party Committees Federal, state & local

candidates Allocated statewide

PACs Support candidates,

parties that agree on specific issues

527s Separate campaign