Congressional Quarterly has this article about the problems caused by the fact that the Federal Election Commission currently only has two commissioners. Normal strength is six. Two commissioners cannot comprise a quorum. Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate and in the White House are deadlocked so no new commissioners can be appointed.

One of the pending FEC matters not mentioned in the CQ article is the Socialist Workers Party request for an extension of its exemption from reporting campaign finance information. Back in 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Socialist Workers Party need not report its campaign contributors, or how the party spends its money. The exemption was based on the historical record that individuals identified publicly with that party ran a risk of harassment. The FEC then exempted the party, but always set an expiration date for the exemption. Each time the exemption has run out, the FEC has renewed it, after determining that the harassment continues. The current exemption runs out this year, and the SWP has asked for another exemption. But the FEC cannot act on such legal matters until it has a quorum.

Thanks to Rick Hasen’s election law blog for the link.