Introduction

Welcome to the April edition of the Political Law Playbook. This edition’s federal coverage features the recent Executive Order (“EO”) signed by President Trump relating to the administration of federal elections, as well as a partial halting of some of its provisions by a federal judge. At the state level, our coverage highlights some recent legal decisions relating to both election results in North Carolina, as well as control over the state’s electoral process. Also of note, Kansas lawmakers will have more relaxed ethics rules related to travel and entertainment benefits moving forward, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams has his corruption case dismissed.

Federal Elections & Campaign Finance

President Trump Signs Executive Order Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote in Federal Elections – Last month, President Trump signed a sweeping Executive Order seeking to advance a major overhaul of American elections and requiring people to prove their citizenship when they register to vote. The order directs the Election Assistance Commission, an independent, bipartisan commission that supports election officials, to update its voter registration form to require voters to establish citizenship when registering to vote via U.S. passports or other government-issued identification documents. The order also requires that all ballots for federal elections must be received by Election Day, and prohibits certain election equipment that uses QR codes.

Federal Judge Halts Parts of Trump’s Federal Election Executive Order  – Earlier this month, a federal judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia enjoined the Trump Administration from immediately enacting certain election administration changes contained with the President’s recent Executive Order on election integrity, including the addition of a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form. Despite the ruling, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly – a Clinton appointee – permitted other parts of President Trump’s order on US elections to go forward, including a directive to tighten mail ballot deadlines around the country. In her 120-page order regarding the executive order, Judge Kollar-Kotelly sided with voting rights groups in saying that the US Constitution gives the power to regulate federal elections to the states and Congress — not the President. She likewise noted that federal lawmakers are currently drafting potential legislation to require proof of citizenship to vote.

Congressman Ogles Faces FEC Complaint – Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN) is facing an official complaint that accuses him of engaging in an “overarching effort” to hide how he raised and spent money in conjunction with his two campaigns for Congress. The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) recently that focuses on the congressman’s purportedly false claims concerning the nature of $320,000 he loaned to his campaign in 2022, as well as numerous other alleged reporting discrepancies recently uncovered by media. Rep. Ogles has previously downplayed the false loan report as a reporting error, while his campaign manager has blamed the more recent discrepancies on a computer glitch. Following those recent questions, Ogles’ campaign manager has asserted that the congressman would amend his campaign reports to correct the mistakes — an action that has not yet occurred.

Federal Lobbying & Ethics

Wife of Former Sen. Menendez Convicted – Nadine Menendez, the wife of former US Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), was convicted earlier this month of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of bribes in exchange for her husband doing favors for Egyptian and New Jersey businessmen. Mrs. Menendez was found guilty on all 15 counts she faced, including bribery, honest services wire fraud, and conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent. She had pleaded not guilty.

Non-Federal Elections & Campaign Finance

Federal Court Temporarily Blocks NC Ruling to Throw Out State Supreme Court Votes – A federal appeals court has put another pause on the voting results of the North Carolina State Supreme Court election from November 2024. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted a temporary stay request by Democrat candidate Allison Riggs that temporarily bars thousands of votes from being thrown out of the election counting process (based on past state court rulings) until Riggs’ motion for a preliminary injunction concerning the ballot discard is heard by the federal district court. The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin on April 4 that over 65,000 votes were likely to be thrown out as invalid due to incomplete or inaccurate voter information. On April 11, the NC Supreme Court partially overturned the Court of Appeals ruling by asserting that tens of thousands of votes could remain in the election count. The current ruling by the US Court of Appeals also ordered the NC Board of Elections not to contact any potentially affected voters until the Riggs appeal is complete.

North Carolina Court Panel Sides with Governor on Control of State Elections Board – Earlier this month, a panel of North Carolina state judges struck down a new law advanced by the Republican-controlled state legislature seeking to move the state’s elections board under the control of the state auditor rather than the Office of the Governor. Senate Bill 382, passed late last year, shifted a number of aspects of state executive branch power away from the Governor’s Office – an office recently assumed by Democrat Josh Stein. Among those changes were steering control of the elections board — which is currently overseen by the governor and has a Democrat majority — to newly elected auditor Dave Boliek, a Republican. Citing a series of prior rulings on executive power and elections board control, the Wake County Superior Court judicial panel opined that the law was unconstitutional and should be permanently enjoined. 

Florida Proposal on Citizen-Led Constitutional Amendments Advances in State Senate – A proposal that would significantly raise the bar on citizen-led constitutional amendments ever making it on the ballot is headed to the floor of the Florida Senate, where it is expected to pass in that GOP-controlled chamber. The bill – SB 7016 - passed along party lines in the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee earlier this month. While a provision requiring a $1 million bond for petition sponsors was removed, the bill still imposes stricter regulations, including mandating additional personal information from voters and petition circulators, triggering investigations if more than 25% of petition forms are deemed invalid, and imposing fines for late submission of petitions and for retaining voters’ personal data. SB 7016 is now under consideration by the full state senate. 

San Francisco Eases Reporting Requirements for Some Nonprofits – The City of San Francisco is easing financial reporting requirements for city-funded nonprofits after some raised concerns that making such information public could put their staffers at risk of harassment, threats or attacks. San Francisco supervisors voted unanimously earlier this month to approve the changes, which are intended to protect employees at nonprofits. The amended legislation also cuts the reporting of some other IRS documents and a program-by-program description of all funds expended or budgeted. Only nonprofits receiving more than $1 million in city funds will have to file the statements at all, a ten-fold increase from the $100,000 minimum in the original legislation.

Iowa Lawmakers Change State’s Recount Rules – Iowa state lawmakers recently enacted a series of electoral reforms designed to tighten the rules for when political candidates can request election recounts and to give county auditors and their staff control over the election recount process. By placing county auditors and their staff in charge of the state election recount administration process, the new bill departs widely from the state’s current system, which places recount authority in the hands of a recount board made up of members appointed by the leading and trailing political candidates in the disputed election, as well as a third agreed-upon member.

Non-Federal Lobbying & Ethics

Kansas Lawmakers Pass Bill to Relax Certain Ethics Laws – Kansas state lawmakers recently passed a bill relaxing ethics laws to allow a broader range of nonprofit entities to reimburse politicians for travel to events and conferences, and to give more leeway for executive branch personnel to accept gifted or discounted tickets for entertainment events. The bill expands who can reimburse lawmakers for expenses incurred from participating events to any nonprofit nonpartisan organization that does not engage in lobbying in the State of Kansas.

MS Speaker Accepted Super Bowl Tickets from Gambling Lobby – Online gaming company DraftKings paid for Mississippi House Speaker Jason White and some of his staff to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans earlier this year. Thanks to a loophole in Mississippi’s lobbying laws, there is no public account of the expensive weekend in lobbying reports that are supposed to document spending on behalf of state employees. The Boston-based sports gambling giant has been at the forefront of a years-long lobbying push to legalize online betting in Mississippi and around the country. In a statement, a company spokesperson said DraftKings “follows the required reporting requirements in all jurisdictions, including Mississippi.”

Corruption Case Dismissed Against NYC Mayor Adams – A federal judge recently dismissed the criminal case brought against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in the later part of 2024. U.S. District Court Judge Dale Ho recently denied a request by federal officials for the option of reinstating the charges because it could appear the Mayor was beholden to government demands. The Justice Department's decision to seek the dismissal of charges against Adams led to the resignations of several federal prosecutors, including the former interim head of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, who alleged federal officials and Adams engaged in what amounted to a "quid pro quo."

Practice Pointers

This edition’s Practice Pointers offers a reminder about the compliance side of the ethics equation for those companies or organizations providing “things of value” to public officials. As noted in a few of the stories from this month, there are many legal ways for companies to provide travel, food and beverage, and other entertainment benefits to public officials, and there is a wide spectrum of how these benefits can manifest. Each state, county, city, etc. has different rules about the permissibility of such benefits, as well as any potential reporting for those providing the benefits. There may also be added restrictions for benefits provided in the procurement context, which has been an area of regulatory growth in recent years. The Dentons Political Law Team has extensive experience assisting entities with the creation and administration of internal approval and reporting frameworks in the ethics space, as well as advising on the optical considerations that attend to providing a public official with something of value. As such, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions if you anticipate having needs in the ethics space.

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