APOC abused its discretion and “should reinstate enforcement of the contribution limits at issue.”
Campaign Finance
In Alaska, three citizens had filed Complaints against the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) for failing to enforce campaign contributions. The Superior Court concluded that APOC abused its discretion and “should reinstate enforcement of the contribution limits at issue.”
The Complaints alleged that two groups, Interior Voters for John Coghill (“Interior Voters”) and Working Families of Alaska (“Working Families”), had accepted monetary contributions that exceeded the limitations of AS 15.13.070. Interior Voters and Working Families are entities created to support particular candidates for political office and meet the definition of groups. They are generally what are considered PAC’s
There is a lot of history in the opinion about campaign contribution limits in Alaska. It also considers federal law, the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, and how the State reacted to Citizens United. It is very likely this case will be appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court.
As Common Dreams reports, this could be a way around Citizens United and its impacts on campaign contribution limits.
Equal Citizens has the court’s opinion here.