Aggregate Use of FEC Data on PAC Contributors Okay, Agency Says

WASHINGTON – An independent political committee’s use of aggregate contribution data related to PACs does not run afoul of the Federal Election Campaign Act, the Federal Elections Commission said.
Full Employment Now-Political Action Committee is an independent expenditure-only political committee that engages members of Congress and Congressional candidates in the hopes of their supporting the creation of federal jobs programs to provide living-wage work to all Americans.
As part of that effort, FEN-PAC proposes to inform those members and candidates of both the number of PAC contributors who live in their state or district and the collective amount those donors have contributed to the organization.
The Federal Election Campaign Act requires a political committee to report the name, mailing address, occupation, and employer of any individual who contributes more than $200 to the committee in a calendar year.
The Act also requires the Commission to make these reports available for public inspection and copying. However, it also prohibits any information copied from Commission reports from being “sold or used by any person for the purpose of soliciting contributions or for commercial purposes.”
During a hearing on Thursday, the commission noted that it has expressly held in the past that aggregated data and data that does not contain individual contributor’s contact information does not implicate the privacy concerns at the heart of the Act’s sale-or-use prohibition.
Moreover, it said, it has repeatedly approved the use of aggregated contribution data obtained from Commission reports, so long as that data is not used by the committee or third parties to solicit contributions or to sell other products or services.
The commission concluded the FEN-Pac’s proposal is permissible because nothing in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 or the agency’s regulations prohibit the proposed use of aggregate contributor data in communications with officeholders or candidates.
In The News
Health
Voting
Elections
HONOLULU, Hawaii — Blue Dog Democrat Rep. Ed Case, incumbent Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, and Hawaii’s current Democratic Lt. Gov.... Read More
HONOLULU, Hawaii — Blue Dog Democrat Rep. Ed Case, incumbent Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, and Hawaii’s current Democratic Lt. Gov. Josh Green won their respective primary contests on Saturday. The state’s top vote getter on Saturday was Schatz, who was serving as lieutenant governor when he... Read More
WASHINGTON — Alaskans heading to the polls for the state’s primary election on Tuesday will get their first, limited exposure... Read More
WASHINGTON — Alaskans heading to the polls for the state’s primary election on Tuesday will get their first, limited exposure to ranked choice voting in a special House election taking place the same day, and featuring Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich, and Democrat Mary Peltola.... Read More
WASHINGTON —If the polls are right, this primary Tuesday will be Trump retribution day in Wyoming. By a quirk of... Read More
WASHINGTON —If the polls are right, this primary Tuesday will be Trump retribution day in Wyoming. By a quirk of the calendar and fate, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., is the last of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump following the... Read More
HONOLULU — Though no one expects Hawaii to reject its deep blue heritage on Saturday and send a crop of... Read More
HONOLULU — Though no one expects Hawaii to reject its deep blue heritage on Saturday and send a crop of Republicans on to electoral glory in November, Saturday’s primary does have an air of change about it.The decision by Rep. Kai Kahele, D-Hawaii, to run for... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — After an uneven start, Donald Trump's election-year tour of revenge succeeded in ousting Republican members of Congress,... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — After an uneven start, Donald Trump's election-year tour of revenge succeeded in ousting Republican members of Congress, boosting Trump-backed "America First" candidates who beat back the establishment and strengthening his grip on the party. Meanwhile, Ron Johnson, the most vulnerable Republican senator up... Read More
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Tim Michels, a wealthy businessman endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary for... Read More
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Tim Michels, a wealthy businessman endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary for Wisconsin governor on Tuesday and will face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in a contest that could reshape elections in the marquee battleground. Michels defeated former Lt.... Read More