Elections and Campaigns

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Elections and Campaigns

• Campaign and Election Reform

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Campaign Election Reform

• Two major types of criticisms have emerged in
  recent years concerning U.S. campaigns
  elections

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Campaign Election Reform

• (1) Campaign spending
• (2) Local control of the voting process

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Campaign Spending

• Spending for campaigns elections are criticized
  for many reasons

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Campaign Spending

• Last major reforms were passed in 1974
• Largely as a result of abuses exposed by
  Watergate scandal

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Reform Act of 1974

• Six-person FEC was formed to oversee election
  contributions expenditures to investigate
  prosecute violators

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Reform Act of 1974

• All contributions over 100 must be disclosedno
  cash contributions over 100 are allowed
• No foreign contributions are allowed

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Reform Act of 1974

• Individual contributions are limited to
• 1,000 per candidate
• 20,000 to a national party committee
• 5,000 to a PAC

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Reform Act of 1974

• Corporation or other association is allowed to
  establish a PAC
• PAC contributions are limited to 5,000 per
  candidate 15,000 to a national party

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Reform Act of 1974

• Federal matching funds are provided for major
  candidates in primaries
• All campaign costs of major candidates in the
  general election were to be paid by the government

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Campaign Election Reform

• After the election of 1996 criticisms of
  campaigns became so strong that special
  congressional hearings were called to investigate
  them

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Campaign Election Reform

• Among the criticisms was the overall expense of
  both Democratic Republican campaigns
• More money was spent in 1996 than in any previous
  campaign

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Campaign Election Reform

• President Clinton Vice President Gore were
  criticized for soliciting campaign funds from
  their offices the White House

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Campaign Election Reform

• Another major accusation was that contributions
  were accepted from foreigners (suspected of
  expecting favors for themselves or their
  countries in return)

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Campaign Election Reform

• Election finance reform was the major theme of
  Senator John McCains campaign for the presidency
  in 2000

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Campaign Election Reform

• McCain particularly criticized soft money
• Funds not specified for candidates campaignsbut
  given to political parties for party building
  activities

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Campaign Election Reform

• McCain many others claimed that this money made
  its way into campaigns anyway

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Campaign Election Reform

• Although McCain did not win the Republican
  nomination, he carried his cause back to the
  Senate

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Campaign Election Reform

• Partly as a result of the publicity during
  McCains campaign, a major reform bill passed the
  Senate in 2001
• House failed to pass it

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Campaign Election Reform

• Election of 2000 was by far the most expensive in
  U.S. history

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Campaign Election Reform

• Major reform legislation was finally passed by
  both houses signed by President Bush in spring
  of 2002

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Campaign Election Reform

• Reformswhich had been stalled in the Housewere
  passed partly in response to questions about
  energy giant Enron its contributions to both
  political parties during 2000 campaign

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Campaign Election Reform

• New legislation bans soft money
• But increased individual contributions from
  1,000 to 2,000 per candidate

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Problems with counting the votes in Florida
  during the 2000 presidential election led to
  widespread criticism of long accepted tradition
  in American politics
• Local control of the voting process

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• When Floridas votes were first counted,
  Republican Bush received only a few hundred more
  votes than did Democrat Gore

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• An automatic recount narrowed the margin of
  victory further

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Since the outcome of the election rested on
  Floridas vote counts, the struggle to determine
  who actually won was carried under a national
  spotlight

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• America watched as local officials tried to
  recount ballots in a system where local voting
  methods regulations varied widely

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Some precincts had electronic voting machines
  known for their accuracy reliability

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Others used paper punch ballots that often left
  hanging chads
• Those ballots might not be counted by the
  machines that processed them

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Recount process was governed by the broad
  principle of determining intent to vote that
  precincts interpreted in different ways

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Important questions were raised
• Are all votes counted?

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Are votes in poor precincts that cannot afford
  expensive voting machines less likely to be
  counted than are those in affluent areas?

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Do variations in voting processes subvert the
  most basic of all rights in a democracy . .
• The right to vote?

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• These problems existed in most states across the
  country
• Caused many to suggest national reform of the
  voting process

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Some advocate nationalizing elections so that all
  voters use the same types of machines under the
  same uniform rules

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Others have pressured Congress to provide funds
  for poor precincts to purchase new voting machines

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Election 2000 Local Control of the Voting
Process

• Even the Supreme Courtin its Bush v. Gore
  decision that governed the outcome of the
  electionssuggested that the states rethink their
  voting processes