A federal judge on Thursday denied a request to block campaign finance provisions of a ballot measure approved by Alaska voters in 2020, finding that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on their outlined claims.<\/p>\n
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in a written ruling also said that in the context of elections, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that “‘lower federal courts should ordinarily not alter … election rules on the eve of an election.’” She said the plaintiffs “waited over one year to seek preliminary injunctive relief.”<\/p>\n
There is a special election for U.S. House and a primary in Alaska on Aug. 16.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit was filed earlier this year on behalf of political donors and third-party groups known was independent expenditure groups. They argued the disclosure rules are unconstitutional and burdensome.<\/p>\n
The plaintiffs had asked that the challenged portions of the initiative be blocked while the case was ongoing.<\/p>\n
The challenged disclosure rules included disclaimers required for ads and required reporting around contributions greater than $2,000 that are given to or received by independent expenditure groups.<\/p>\n
Daniel Suhr, an attorney for the plaintiffs and a managing attorney at the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center, in a statement said: “We remain confident in our arguments. This was only a preliminary ruling and we plan to continue vigorously pursuing the case to protect Alaskans’ First Amendment freedoms.”<\/p>\n
An email seeking comment was sent to the Alaska Department of Law, which defended the initiative provisions.<\/p>\n
The plaintiffs are listed as Doug Smith and Robert Griffin of Anchorage; Allen Vezey of Fairbanks; and Albert Haynes of Wasilla and Trevor Shaw of Ketchikan. The lawsuit describes each of them as sometimes donating more than $2,000 to organizations that make independent expenditures.<\/p>\n
The Alaska Free Market Coalition and Families of the Last Frontier, described as independent expenditure groups, are also plaintiffs.<\/p>\n
The defendants are members of the Alaska Public Offices Commission, which enforces campaign finance rules in the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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