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1996 SESSION

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SB 170 Elections; campaign writings, disclosures, finance, etc.

Introduced by: Kevin G. Miller | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY:

Elections; identifying persons responsible for campaign writings. Removes the identification requirement for materials related to referendum issues, but retains the present law requirement for identification of persons responsible for campaign materials concerning "clearly identified" candidates for office. This change is prompted by the United States Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 115 S. Ct. 1511 (1995), in which the Court struck down an Ohio statute which prohibited the distribution of anonymous campaign literature. The Ohio case and the Court's ruling concerned the distribution of anonymous flyers opposing a school bond issue. The Court held that the statute regulated "pure" speech (as opposed to the mechanics of elections) and that Ohio had failed to prove that the statute was narrowly drawn to satisfy a compelling state interest. The Attorney General of Virginia issued an opinion to M. Bruce Meadows, Secretary of the State Board of Elections, on July 13, 1995, advising him that the provisions of § 24.2-1014 which applied to referendum elections would be subject to challenge under the ruling, but that the Commonwealth could defend the requirement for disclosure in the context of candidate elections because of the state's interest in promoting a fully informed electorate and in preserving the integrity of candidate elections. In addition, the bill narrows the application of certain campaign finance disclosure law provisions to focus on candidate, rather than referendum, elections. Litigation is pending on these provisions in the federal district court for the Western District in Virginia.


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