The Federal Electoral Commission may be delayed but not stopped

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, a strong election commission in a country can not only stop corrupt behaviors but can help with enforcement of actionable lawsuits based upon election and electoral improprieties. In this article by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), they highlight the corrupt behaviors of the Trump administration and what can be done to avoid possible ongoing corrupt behavior within the Federal Election Commission (FEC). These actions are mainly of inaction, as at this time there isn’t a quorum at the FEC, which is needed to bring forward FEC complaints.

This should not be a surprise as it is a tested technique by those who are trying to undermine electoral systems. In this case, President Trump has had all the Democratic commissions of the Federal Election Commission fired. The administration then has not filled these positions, which means that the work of the FEC cannot go forward, as a quorum is required, and they cannot issue complaints. What this specifically means is that any enforcement actions cannot begin which creates a situation where “The Republican Commissioners then cited the “extensive enforcement backlog” created by the loss of quorum as one reason to prevent enforcement.”

Thankfully, though this is unfortunate, this does not create a situation where nothing can  move forward.  Congress recognized that though they set up the FEC after the Nixon Administration as a deterrent, they were “not naive to a president’s potential malfeasance, and so did not leave enforcement solely to the agency. Rather, Congress empowered individuals to bring lawsuits and seek justice against the corrupt where the agency proved unwilling or unable to protect them.”

This has meant that lawsuits outside the FEC can be brought, and though a functioning FEC is important, groups such as CREW can and have bypassed the FEC can bring a lawsuit directly against the violators. The FEC’s lack of quorum allowed for swifter actions as the lack of a FEC quorum meant that the FEC defaulted in the suit. Though this all sounds very bureaucratic, the importance is that the Trump administration’s actions may not be a egregious as it seems at first glance.

Link:

https://www.citizensforethics.org/news/analysis/theres-a-silver-lining-to-a-paralyzed-fec/