http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/02/20/prediction-end-near-on-limits-on-campaign-contributions Comments On: Prediction: End near on limits on campaign contributions by Max Brantley en-us Copyright 2013 Arkansas Times. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Arkansas Times readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Arkansas Times. robert@arktimes.com (Arkansas Times Webmaster) Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:01 -0500 Thu, 23 May 2013 22:15:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
To use your petition example, this restriction on donations that you propose would be similar to requiring that the person signing a petition do so only in the district where they are registered to vote. We don't impose anything like that. We only require that the signors be registered in Arkansas and that the signatures from one county be on a different sheet than signatures from another county. This very narrow restriction serves the compelling government interest in being able to efficiently verify the signatures in time for election deadlines.
Posted by Infamous Amos]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:14:37 -0600 Arkansas Times
The compelling interest is that elected representatives should represent the people in their district, not foreign money donors. That outside money is a major source of corruption.

You could still express your out-of-district political speech with uncoordinated independent expenditures.
Posted by radical centrist]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:20:07 -0600 Arkansas Times
Second, if I live in one district but work in a second district (I do), why shouldn't I be able to donate in the second district as well? The legislature does not restrict itself to passing laws that only impact me when I am at home, obviously.

Finally, core political speech, which includes donating to a candidate according to decades of jurisprudence, is subject to strict scrutiny, and I no idea what the compelling government interest is here that you would you be protecting with this restriction or how you could establish that this restriction was narrowly tailored to protect that interest.
Posted by Infamous Amos]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:24:15 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Silverback66]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:37:13 -0600 Arkansas Times
If we restricted contributions on a rational basis, like requiring the donor to be a registered voter in the candidate's district, that would make more sense.
Posted by radical centrist]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:12:46 -0600 Arkansas Times