Exciting news: we have officially filed to challenge the FEC in court!
Earlier this month, our legal team filed in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to appeal the FEC’s decision demanding that our 2016 campaign repay over $175,000 in public matching funds we spent on ballot access.
The FEC’s decision threatens to stick me with a massive bill five years after the end of our campaign – but to make things even worse, the precedent would discourage independents and alternative parties from using federal public matching funds to get on the ballot in elections to come.
Will you contribute today to help us fight back for the future of independent politics?
We were able to file this appeal owing to the generosity of people like you who pitched in to cover the first round of legal expenses for the court battle. Thank you!
Our legal team’s statement of issues to be raised on appeal – which you can see here – challenges the FEC’s unjust decision on a number of fronts, from its timing five years after the election to the legal premise of the decision itself.
Our lawyers Harry Kreske and Oliver Hall have years of experience successfully fighting for the rights of candidates outside the two-party system to get on the ballot and overcome barriers to participation in democratic elections.
We’re fighting back because if the FEC’s punitive decision is allowed to stand, it would be a massive deterrent to grassroots challengers at the top of the ticket that could also make it far more difficult for candidates to run in local “down-ballot” races where Greens and other independents have had the most success.
Please donate now to help us keep up the battle for the future of independent politics!
All my best,
Jill
