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Advocacy Blog
Friday, December 14, 2007
Next Steps for Electioneering Communications, Explanation from FEC and New Fight against Disclosure Rule
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is expected to finalize the new rule for funding "electioneering communications" upon approving the explanatory text known as the explanation and justification (E&J). The E&J gives some examples of the types of ads that corporations may or may not sponsor.
There are a few problems with this E&J. As Bob Bauer writes in a blog posting; "What more can be said if, after the explanation, the Commission's course of interpretation is no more predictable than before? Under the rule, an ad may include "indicia of express advocacy" (references to candidates, elections or voting), or it might not: either way, it might be exempt or it might not."
According to BNA Money and Politics, ($$) "The first electioneering-communications report for the current presidential campaign came from the Club for Growth.net, which told the FEC that it received new funding for its television ads targeting Republican presidential candidate Huckabee."
Meanwhile Citizens United has announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the FEC, arguing that issue-oriented television ads are protected by the First Amendment and should not be subject to disclosure requirements. Remember, the disclosure requirements were not addressed in the Wisconsin Right to Life case, and even though one of the FEC's alternatives in the proposed rulemaking removed disclosure, the final rule left the requirements intact. The lawsuit focuses on ads the group plans to air for a film about Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY).
Posted by Amanda Adams
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