[EL] "FEC Deadlock Derail Matters"

[Smith, Brad]

This is the type of reporting that is so frustrating.

First, if a faculty, for example, has a rule requiring a two-thirds vote for tenure, we wouldn't normally say that a 19-13 vote "derailed" tenure. Indeed, if you had a simple majority rule, we wouldn't usually say that a 16-16 vote was a "deadlock." We would say the person was denied tenure. If the House votes 216-216 on a measure, we don't say it "deadlocked," we say the measure lost.

Similarly, when the FEC votes 3-3 not to find reason to believe, it has not found reason to believe that the law was broken, the predicate for an investigation under the statute.

Second, the article not only tells us that the Commission "deadlocked," but that it "deadlocked along party lines." Factually accurate, true. But pretty much everyone who follows the Commission agrees that partisanship is not the reason for 3-3 votes. It would be sort of like writing, "President Obama today nominated one Republican and one Democrat to seats on the FEC...," and leaving it at that. Such an act would not really be a demonstration of bipartisanship, but if it were not explained later why he nominated a Republican, it is simply misleading.


Bradley A. Smith

Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault

   Professor of Law

Capital University Law School

303 E. Broad St.

Columbus, OH 43215

614.236.6317

http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx

________________________________
From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] on behalf of Rick Hasen [rhasen at law.uci.edu]
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2013 4:05 PM
To: law-election at UCI.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/16/13

“FEC Deadlocks Derail Matters Involving Crossroads GPS, Family-Member Super PAC”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47362>
Posted on February 15, 2013 5:50 pm<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47362> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg BNA<http://news.bna.com/mpdm/MPDMWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=29745575&vname=mpebulallissues&jd=a0d6m0d6q4&split=0>:

The Federal Election Commission dismissed two cases involving allegations of illegal coordination between congressional candidates and outside spending groups after the commissioners deadlocked along party lines regarding whether the cases should be investigated, the FEC announced Feb. 15.
One case involved Crossroads GPS, among the most prominent Republican-leaning nonprofit groups involved in recent campaigns. Designated Matter Under Review (MUR) 6368, the case involved allegations that the group’s founder, Republican strategist Karl Rove, illegally coordinated efforts with then-Rep. Roy Blunt’s (R-Mo.) successful 2010 campaign for U.S. Senate.
The other case (MUR 6611) involved a super PAC funded by the mother of Laura Ruderman, an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in 2012. The case was the FEC’s first consideration of a single-candidate PAC financed by the candidate’s family, according a written statement from three of the commissioners.
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Posted in campaign finance<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal election commission<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24> | Comments Off
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Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org



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--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org
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