The ruling is a disappointment, but understandable. The outcome must be strong campaign finance disclosure legislation so voters will be made aware of the last-minute campaign donations in a timely fashion.
The 9th District Court of Appeals recently ruled that the state law prohibiting donations exceeding $5,000 in the last three weeks before a general election is an improper restraint of the donor’s free-speech rights. The appellate judges declared the state statute unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable.
Attorneys representing the state’s interests had argued that the limits on campaign contributions were necessary to ensure that mail-in voters knew who was funding the ballot measures. All 39 counties now conduct their elections through the mail and ballots are generally distributed 20 days before the election. Some voters return their ballots as soon as they receive them.
Lawyers in the Office of the Attorney General defending the state law said that placing limits on campaign contributions would assist voters.
The appellate judges were having none of that argument, however. The judges rejected the state’s plea saying voters who cast a ballot before Election Day make that choice on their own and that donation information is reported regularly in those final days.
“Washington’s limit nonetheless imposes a significant burden, because it limits contributions during the critical three-week period before the election, when political committees may want to respond to developing events,” the judges wrote.
While removing the limits on late campaign donations, the appellate judges did, as part of their ruling, give voters something in return. The good news is that the judges approved the state requirement that donors who contribute more than $25 must be identified. The key, then is to ensure that those donations are reported in a timely manner so that the voting public has an opportunity to know who is dumping cash into ballot campaigns in the days leading up to the election.
Family PAC, a political group involved in the 2009 referendum on expanded domestic partnerships for gay couples, had sued over that law.
Voters in this state through passage of Initiative 276 in 1972 clearly and convincingly stated their preference for open and transparent campaigns, whether it was for candidates for public office or ballot propositions. This state’s campaign finance disclosure laws, among the strongest in the nation, have always been based on the principle of full disclosure.
With their vote, nearly a million Washington residents said they want to know who contributes to political campaigns, how much money they are donating and how that money is being spent. It’s a guiding principle that has governed elections for public office for 40 years and we are pleased to see the appellate justices uphold the campaign finance reporting requirement.
After the ruling, Public Disclosure Commission spokeswoman Lori Anderson said she, too, was happy that the disclosure requirements were upheld.
Janelle Guthrie, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Rob McKenna, said the office was reviewing options on the court’s decision regarding last-minute contributions. “State law was designed to prevent attempts to secretly influence elections with large, last-minute contributions, and we’re reviewing how this decision impacts the state’s ability to prevent that,” Guthrie said.
Voters got a glimpse of the influence of money in campaigns in the November General Election when Costco Wholesale Corp. spent $22 million to pass its initiative to privatize liquor sales in this state. Costco, who had the initiative drafted and rode it all the way to victory with voters, made its largest donation – about $9 million – a little more than three weeks before the election, right before the $5,000 limit would take effect.
Now, with the appellate ruling, that limit is gone in the final three weeks based on Costco’s and others’ First Amendment free-speech rights. While we understand the ruling, it’s imperative that the focus now shift to accurate and timely reporting of those last-minute donations, so the voters can be fully informed. Full disclosure is the core principle that must be maintained.
