John Sarbanes

“ The term ‘nonpublic campaign material’ means, with respect to a candidate or a political committee, campaign material that is produced by the candidate or the committee or produced at the candidate or committee’s expense or request which is not distributed or made available to the general public or otherwise in the public domain, including polling and focus group data and opposition research, except that such term does not include material produced for purposes of consultations relating solely to the candidate’s or committee’s position on a legislative or policy matter.”. ”

“ These flawed decisions have empowered large corporations, extremely wealthy individuals, and special interests to dominate election spending, corrupt our politics, and degrade our democracy through tidal waves of unlimited and anonymous spending. These decisions also stand in contrast to a long history of efforts by Congress and the States to regulate money in politics to protect democracy, and they illustrate a troubling deregulatory trend in campaign finance-related court decisions. ”

“ CIVIL PENALTIES.—Any entity of the Federal Government which is authorized under any law, rule, or regulation to impose a civil penalty shall assess on each person, other than a natural person who is not a corporate officer or person with equivalent authority in any other organization, on whom such a penalty is imposed an amount equal to 4.75 percent of the amount of the penalty. ”

“ The individual or an immediate family member of the individual is an employee of an elected public official, a contractor with the government of the State, or a donor to the campaign of any candidate for public office or to any political action committee (other than a donor who, during any of such covered periods, gives an aggregate amount of $1,000 or less to the campaigns of all candidates for all public offices and to all political action committees) . ”

“ IN GENERAL.—A State may not refuse to accept or process an individual’s application to register to vote in elections for Federal office on the grounds that the individual is under 18 years of age at the time the individual submits the application, so long as the individual is at least 16 years of age at such time. “ (2) NO EFFECT ON STATE VOTING AGE REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in paragraph (1) may be construed to require a State to permit an individual who is under 18 years of age at the time of an election for Federal office to vote in the election.”. ”

“ There are no constitutional, historical, fiscal, or economic reasons why the Americans who live in the District of Columbia should not be granted statehood. (4) Since the founding of the United States, the residents of the District of Columbia have always carried all of the obligations of citizenship, including serving in all of the Nation’s wars and paying Federal taxes, but have been denied voting representation in Congress and freedom from congressional interference in purely local matters. ”

“ Legal Defense Funds.—An officer or employee may not accept or use any gift or donation for the payment or reimbursement of legal fees or expenses incurred in investigative, civil, criminal, or other legal proceedings relating to or arising by virtue of the officer or employee’s service as an officer or employee, as defined in this section, or as an employee, contractor, consultant or volunteer of the campaign of the President or Vice President except through a legal defense fund that is certified by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. ”

“ In order to protect the integrity of democracy and the electoral process and to ensure political equality for all, the Constitution should be amended so that Congress and the States may regulate and set limits on the raising and spending of money to influence elections and may distinguish between natural persons and artificial entities, like corporations, that are created by law, including by prohibiting such artificial entities from spending money to influence elections. ”

“ Basic constitutional principles of fairness and equal protection require an equal opportunity for citizens of the United States to vote in Federal elections. The right to vote may not be abridged or denied by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, gender, or previous condition of servitude. ”

“ The voting system shall provide the voter with an opportunity to correct any error on the paper ballot before the permanent voter-verified paper ballot is preserved in accordance with clause (ii) . “ (III) The voting system shall not preserve the voter-verified paper ballots in any manner that makes it possible, at any time after the ballot has been cast, to associate a voter with the record of the voter’s vote without the voter’s consent. ”

“ COMMUNICATION OF CORRECTIVE INFORMATION.—Any information communicated by the Attorney General under paragraph (1) — (A) shall— (i) be accurate and objective; (ii) consist of only the information necessary to correct the materially false information that has been or is being communicated; and (iii) to the extent practicable, be by a means that the Attorney General determines will reach the persons to whom the materially false information has been or is being communicated; and (B) shall not be designed to favor or disfavor any particular candidate, organization, or political party. ”

“ The general counsel, upon receiving a complaint filed with the Commission under paragraph (1) or upon the basis of information ascertained by the Commission in the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, shall make a determination as to whether or not there is reason to believe that a person has committed, or is about to commit, a violation of this Act or chapter 95 or chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and as to whether or not the Commission should either initiate an investigation of the matter or that the complaint should be dismissed. ”

“ Working mothers, those caring for their elderly parents, and young professionals who rely on their jobs for health insurance should have the freedom to run to serve the people of the United States. Their networks and net worth are simply not the best indicators of their strength as prospective public servants. ”

“ The term ‘former client’ means a person or entity for whom an appointee served personally as agent, attorney, or consultant during the 2-year period ending on the date before the date on which the covered employee begins service in the Federal Government, but does not include an agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government. ”

“ At least one member of the Task Force shall be a representative of an organization promoting voting rights or civil rights which has experience in the operation of similar telephone services or in protecting the rights of individuals to vote, especially individuals who are members of racial, ethnic, or linguistic minorities or of communities who have been adversely affected by efforts to suppress voting rights. ”

“ Congress should examine the methods by which corruption flourishes and the means to detect and deter the financial misconduct that fuels this driver of global instability. Congress should monitor government efforts to enforce United States anti-corruption laws and regulations. ”

“ Congress finds that racial discrimination in access to voting and the political process persists. Voting restrictions, redistricting, and other electoral practices and processes continue to disproportionately impact communities of color in the United States and do so as a result of both intentional racial discrimination, structural racism, and the ongoing structural socioeconomic effects of historical racial discrimination. ”

“ Districts shall be drawn, to the extent that the totality of the circumstances warrant, to ensure the practical ability of a group protected under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) to participate in the political process and to nominate candidates and to elect representatives of choice is not diluted or diminished, regardless of whether or not such protected group constitutes a majority of a district’s citizen voting age population. ”

“ Prohibiting Use Of Electronic Mail Addresses For Other Than Official Purposes.—The chief State election official shall ensure that any electronic mail address provided by an applicant under subsection (b) (5) is used only for purposes of carrying out official duties of election officials and is not transmitted by any State or local election official (or any agent of such an official, including a contractor) to any person who does not require the address to carry out such official duties and who is not under the direct supervision and control of a State or local election official.”. ”

“ CONTACTS FOR PURPOSES OF ENABLING OBSERVATION OF ELECTIONS BY INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS.—The term ‘reportable foreign contact’ shall not include any contact or communication with a covered foreign national by any person which is made for purposes of enabling the observation of elections in the United States by a foreign national or the observation of elections outside of the United States by a candidate, political committee, or any official, employee, or agent of such committee. ”

“ The President or the President’s designee may grant to any current or former appointee a written waiver of any restrictions contained in the pledge signed by such appointee if, and to the extent that, the President or the President’s designee certifies (in writing) that, in light of all the relevant circumstances, the interest of the Federal Government in the employee’s participation outweighs the concern that a reasonable person may question the integrity of the agency’s programs or operations. ”

“ In 2020, according to the Sentencing Project, an estimated 5,200,000 Americans could not vote due to a felony conviction. One in 16 African Americans of voting age is disenfranchised, a rate 3.7 times greater than that of non-African Americans. In seven States–Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming–more than one in seven African Americans is disenfranchised, twice the national average for African Americans. Congress finds that felony disenfranchisement was one of the tools of intentional racial discrimination during the Jim Crow era. ”

“ IN GENERAL.—The independent redistricting commission may not appoint an individual as an employee, and may not enter into a contract with a vendor, if the individual or vendor meets any of the criteria for the disqualification of an individual from serving as a member of the commission which are set forth in section 2412 (a) (2) . (B) WAIVER.—The commission may by unanimous vote of its members waive the application of subparagraph (A) to an individual or a vendor after receiving and reviewing the report filed by the individual or vendor under paragraph (3) . ”

“ At the same time millions of Americans have signed petitions, marched, called their Members of Congress, written letters to the editor, and otherwise demonstrated their public support for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United that will allow Congress to reign in the outsized influence of unchecked money in politics. ”

“ DISQUALIFICATIONS FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE AND POLITICAL APPOINTMENT.—Individuals who, for a covered period of time as established by the State, hold or have held public office, individuals who are or have been candidates for elected public office, and individuals who serve or have served as an officer, employee, or paid consultant of a campaign committee of a candidate for public office are disqualified from serving on the commission. ”

“ The more campaign cash from wealthy special interests can flood our elections, the more policies that favor those interests are reflected in the national political agenda. When it comes to policy preferences, our Nation’s wealthiest tend to have fundamentally different views than do average Americans when it comes to issues ranging from unemployment benefits to the minimum wage to health care coverage. ”