Democrats Sue Federal Election Commission Over McCain Spending




On April 14, the Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission, case no 1:08-cv-639, in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The lawsuit is really directed at Senator John McCain, who has spent more than is permitted already, during the primary season, for candidates who accept primary season matching funds. McCain has said he is not bound by the limit because he never actually took primary season matching funds. But the Democratic complaint points out that he because he was eligible for them, he was able to get on the Delaware and Ohio presidential primary ballots without petitioning (the law exempts presidential primary candidates from petitioning if they are en_title_d to primary season matching funds).

The Democrats are suing the FEC to force the FEC to act against McCain. However, since the FEC only has two commissioners and four vacancies, it is without a quorum, so the lawsuit asks that the Democratic National Committee be given permission to sue McCain directly, since it is hopeless that the FEC can act. See their complaint here.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/apache.3cdn.net/90568e3833fcd8866c_abm6b3rak.pdf