FEC greenlights unlimited spending for abortion, other ballot measures
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved unlimited foreign and outside spending for ballot initiatives nationwide on Wednesday, a move opposed by some Republicans as Democrats have heavily relied on messaging related to abortion referenda to turn out their votes.
The FEC’s six-person panel greenlighted a request from a Nevada-based abortion rights group that will allow PACs and nonprofits to rake in cash for and against ballot measures — including from overseas and so-called “dark money” donors, which is illegal for individual candidates and their fundraising committees under federal campaign finance law.
A source familiar with the decision noted that all three Republicans and one Democrat on the panel voted for the advisory opinion, including FEC chairman Sean Cooksey, who was appointed in 2020 by former President Donald Trump.
Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom requested the change to solicit unlimited funding for its political action committee and nonprofit while collecting signatures to secure a Nov. 5 ballot initiative to enshrine abortion in the Silver State’s constitution.
Political candidates are also allowed to fundraise for any state-level initiatives following the opinion — giving Democrats a potent line of attack on abortion issues after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in June 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade.
The law firm of powerhouse Democratic elections attorney Marc Elias submitted the request on behalf of the Nevada group in February.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) opposed the move in a comment submitted to the FEC, arguing the funding would directly influence candidates’ elections and invite “a flood of foreign contributions into the American political system.”
Nonprofits in particular would be “capable of conducting activities such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities that may have a connection to federal elections,” the comment adds.
Hans Von Spakovsky, a former FEC member who manages the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative, told The Post the panel “didn’t have any choice” in approving, given Supreme Court precedent.
“The Supreme Court has said on several occasions the Federal Election Campaign Act only applies to candidate elections, it does not apply to ballot referenda,” Spakovsky said, citing the 1971 law banning foreign campaign contributions.
“I’m sure they didn’t like issuing that opinion, but they didn’t have any choice,” he added, before calling on states and Congress to pass laws prohibiting foreign donors from influencing ballot measures.
Only seven states currently have laws barring foreign money from ballot initiatives, according to Ballotpedia.
Following the Dobbs decision, more than two dozen states quickly moved to codify a right to abortion in their constitutions — either through the legislative process or by ballot referendums, where GOP-backed efforts have typically underperformed.
In November, the Republican-led state of Ohio became one of a growing roster of jurisdictions that have legalized all abortions.
New York, Maryland and Florida have all secured 2024 ballot initiatives to expand access to the procedure, while activists in the battleground state of Arizona are in the process of signature-gathering to do away with limits on the procedures.
On Thursday, Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed legislation repealing an 1864 law outlawing most abortions, with exceptions only to spare the mother’s health.
Arizona currently has no prohibition on foreign money going toward ballot initiatives, but Nevada and a half dozen other states outlaw the spending.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ripped the abortion initiative in his state as a “radical” step and predicted it was “going to fail,” but President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have bet big on abortion messaging in 2024, even declaring the Sunshine State “winnable” in November.
