Dear John,
First, I want to thank you for taking a few minutes to read this message. I know the holiday season is a crazy busy time—and that has been especially true in Washington this week.
Most notably, Congress justpassed a law to ensure the will of the people is respected following future presidential elections. The new law, which was included in legislation funding the government, updates the ambiguous Electoral Count Act (ECA). For more than a century, the ECA has set a timeline for selecting electors and transmitting their votes to Congress.
The ECA also establishes procedures for how Congress counts electoral votes, including the role of the vice president who presides over this process under the 12th Amendment as the president of the Senate.
Recognizing the dangers posed by the existing law’s imprecise language, gaps and ambiguities, CLC embarked on a campaign in early 2021 to update the ECA that garnered strong bipartisan support and has finally come to fruition. I am pleased to report that the bill passed by Congress includes the following:
Prohibiting state legislatures from changing the law after Election Day to overrule their voters and the results of the popular election.
Providing procedures to resolve disputes about electors and election certifications before those disputes reach Congress.
Strictly limiting opportunities for members of Congress to second-guess states’ certified election results.
Clarifying the vice president’s ministerial role in the counting of electoral votes and reinforcing that the vice president does not decide election results.
Inspired by CLC’s mission to ensure that our government is one of, by and for the people (all people), and supported by a devoted network of donors, our successful effort to update the ECA engenders a sense of hope as 2022 draws to a close. Continued support is, of course, crucial to our future success. In that spirit I would ask you to consider a year-end gift to CLC, if you have not made one recently.
I am sure that most Americans would like to see more of the kind of bipartisan cooperation that produced the ECA update, especially when it comes to safeguarding our democracy. We may in fact see progress on a handful of issues in the new Congress, despite the partisan split between the House and Senate. This could include bolstering protections for election officials and funding for election administration, including audits for voting machines.
Our ongoing work to ensure fairness, transparency, inclusiveness and accessibility in our democracy will be informed by other successes experienced this year, particularly at the state level.
Among these is the continued popularity of pro-democracy ballot initiatives. Following the midterms, CLC celebrated successes in Arizona, which voted to create commonsense regulations around campaign finance disclosure; in Michigan, where voters backed important reforms to expand access to the ballot; and, in Oakland, California, which adopted a “democracy dollars” program that will have the effect of encouraging candidates to accept public funding and will give ordinary voters an important role to play in the funding of campaigns as well.
State ballot measures have also been an effective vehicle for ending the corrosive practice of partisan gerrymandering, which allows politicians to choose their own voters through the district map-drawing process. Michigan and New York this year conducted their midterm elections using newly drawn fair maps. Meanwhile, Utah’s march toward fair maps continued this year thanks to wins in court spearheaded by CLC.
However, the ability of states to combat undemocratic redistricting practices may ultimately come down to Supreme Court rulings next summer in the cases of Merrill v. Milligan and Moore v. Harper. One can only hope that the justices take CLC’s well-reasoned friend-of-the-court briefs in both cases to heart!
In the face of the Federal Election Commission’s failure to enforce campaign finance laws, 2022 gave us reason to believe that states and localities will take matters into their own hands. The city of Philadelphia acted to ban the practice known as “redboxing,” which involves candidates illegally coordinating their activities with outside spenders, like super PACs. CLC vigorously supported this reform and hopes to see similar measures adopted elsewhere.
At the same time, we are not letting the FEC off the hook. Our efforts to ensure the agency does its job recently got a boost thanks to a district court ruling on a case involving the FEC’s failure to act regarding a massive coordination scheme between the 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and a super PAC called Correct the Record. Rulings like this are a vitally important step towards deterring wrongdoing by political campaigns in the future.
We also see hope for the future of government ethics in the findings of our latest report released earlier this year. Examining state and local ethics commissions across the country, it provides recommendations for best enforcement practices, showcasing innovative approaches in different states that are helping to maintain public trust in local government.
And, in keeping with the theme of hope, I leave you with the uplifting voting rights story of Darius Gamble, who exercised this fundamental freedom this year for the first time in 14 years. Disenfranchised by unjust laws in the state of Alabama, Mr. Gamble is one of thousands who have partnered with CLC to regain their freedom to vote through our Restore Your Vote program, which operates under the moral principle that a prior felony conviction should not cut off access to the ballot. There are millions of Americans across the country whose voting rights have been impacted by the criminal legal system and our work in this area will continue unabated.
CLC was founded 20 years ago with the mission of confronting tough challenges that confound the perennial struggle to create a more perfect union. Among the many lessons learned over the intervening years is that a coalition of activists and supporters dedicated to the hard work of protecting and strengthening our democracy is absolutely essential. I hope we can count on you to be one of those supporters. Please make a contribution to support CLC today. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together in the new year to come.
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center is dedicated to advancing democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s rights to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process.
