| Campaign finance doesn't fall within my definition of "technical politics", which is concerned with the statistical mechanics of individual voting. But it's hard to ignore as a subject, since the money has to come from somewhere, and the law sets limits on where that somewhere can be.
Mainly as a result of the application of First Amendment principles to barely related cases, the limits that have emerged to apply to voter registration and GOTV are clear, but bizarre. |
To begin with, Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), which generally upheld federal campaign finance laws, almost incidentally declared that voter registration and similar activity is largely beyond the power of government to regulate.
As a result, not only are there no limits on the amount of money an individual can donate to such purposes, but there are no limits on contributions by corporations, unions, or even foreign citizens. Nor - as long as the total amount falls below the federal threshold ($17,500 per year?) is there any requirement for disclosure at all.
But that's not the end of the story. McCain-Feingold, largely upheld in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, 540 U.S. 93 (2003), places severe limits on spending by national and state parties - including money spent on voter registration and GOTV.
The result - which can only be called bizarre - is that anybody OTHER THAN A STATE OR NATIONAL PARTY is free to raise and spend unlimited money. This apparently even includes county party organizations in Michigan - which are free to accept money from (say) Muammar Gaddafi to pay to staff a table at the local community college. But the moment the MDP becomes involved, only "hard dollars" can be used, they must be completely reported, and all the normal limits apply.
It's hard to pretend this result makes sense as public policy, but here we are and we need to deal with it. Either our activities need to be coordinated at the county level, or they need to be spun off to some quasi-independent organization that could be financed by somebody like Jon Stryker or George Soros. (I'm waiting for my calls to be returned.)
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